Resident Evil: Genome
by DragonCount
Summary: Two innocent teenagers get caught in the horrors of Raccoon city. Josh Ellington and Helene Nayami must work together to survive the night of hell. But what sort of horror that anyone could never imagine was to spawn from the depths of Umbrella Inc.?
1. Chapter 1: When hell breaks loose

Resident Evil: Genome

By Lizard90

Two innocent teenagers get caught in the horrors of Raccoon city. Josh Ellington and Helene Nayami must fight together to survive the night of hell. With gruesome mutants and flesh eating zombies infesting the streets is bad enough, but what is a horror anyone could have never imagined to spawn from the depths of Umbrella Inc? Has happenings from Resident Evil 2 and 3.

-

Chapter 1: When hell breaks loose

A tourist bus carrying a load of tourists of many types is heading towards a large town which is marked on the map as Raccoon City. It's dark outside as it's nine pm. in the evening. All passengers are minding their own business, asleep or reading the paper. A boy around fifteen in the age leans his head over his shoulder as he looks outside into the dark night. He brushes some of his brown hair from the way of his eyes. The boy is considered roughly built and is wearing a black leather jacket with the zipper open, revealing a dark green t-shirt that seems a bit tight. Added with a pair of dark blue jeans that seem brand new that were held up with a brown belt. He kicks the floor of the bus with his brown sneaker covered feet and brushes some dust off his pitch black fingerless gloves. He gazes out with his dark green eyes and sighs as a sign of boredom.

"Three more cities to go..." he sighs and seems to doze off.

The bus enters the city with the streets seeming empty. The passengers who were awake were a bit spooked by the city. It seemed like a ghost town rather than a busy metropolis. The driver is calmly turning around the corner... but as he turns a man is stumbling right in the middle of the road. The driver made a sharp turn, scaring many passengers and waking all of the sleeping ones. But then even more people were on the road with the driver making sharper and sharper turns to avoid them, but the bus finally falls over, knocking almost all passengers out, including the boy. After the crash, some who were still conscious heard shuffling sounds of feet and sickening moans.

-

"Keep running Helene!"

Two teens, a girl and an older looking boy were running through the alleys of Raccoon, behind them a huge pack of people. But these people didn't seem okay. Their eyes were plain white with no pupils, their skin seemed to have been turned brown from rot and their dirty torn up clothes were covered in dry blood. What were they? Well, we all think that is simple. These weren't just plain human beings, but had been. They were zombies, the undead. Human flesh craving dead people. They moved pretty slowly with their decaying legs, but the cramped alleys made escaping harder. The two teens only got more of those zombies on their tail with every wrong turn.

The two finally came to a fence. It was rather sturdy and made of wood, so ramming it wouldn't help at all.

"Now what do we do Osamo?" The girl panicked. The girl along with her obvious brother seemed to be from a Japanese breed. The girl had black, long hair that swayed in the wind and was wearing a red long sleeved shirt, black jeans held up with a blue belt, red and black fingerless gloves, gray sneakers and a dark green backpack.

"I'll help you get over the fence. I'll follow." The boy Osamo said.

"But... what if those things catch you!" The girl exclaimed scared.

"Just do it!" Osamo knelt down, letting her sister stand on his shoulders andcarefully lift her up. Helene jumped to the other side and waited for her brother.

As Osamo was starting to climb up the fence, the zombies were closing in with their eyes showing signs of mad hunger for the boy's flesh. Osamo thought he'd make it, but then a doberman that was also decaying, ran through the pack of zombies and loged it jaws into the boys back, making him scream in agony and loose his grip and fall right in front of the pack of zombies that piled up on the boy and started tearing away at his flesh. Helene heard his brother's screams and was even more terrified.

"Osamo! Osamo! No!" Helene shed many tears of sorrow and fear. She looked back to see a lone zombie shuffling at her.

"Goodbye Osamo..." Helene then ran swiftly past the zombie. She came out into the open street and noticed a few zombies shuffling around, also looking for living flesh to feed on. Helene also noticed the street was blocked from both sides by wreckage and the fence behind her was shaking from the zombies that were trying to get through. Helene ran towards the row of buildings and started banging on one's door.

"Anyone! Let me in! Help!" Helene yelled frantically as she noticed about six zombies moving towards her.

Suddenly the door was opened. Behind that stood a wounded looking man holding a pistol.

"Get in! Quick!" The man swung his arm to tell Helene to come in.

"What the hell is wrong with this town?" Helene asked still terrified.

"I don't know. Everything was going fine until one, two, the streets are overrun by these... these... zombies!" The man said shakily.

Helene looked around to notice the shop was a weapon shop. The man who was obviously the owner walked to the back of the room and opened another door that seemed to lead to a kitchen.

"Get in here! You'll be a lot safer." The man said.

"But what about you?" Helene asked with concern towards the man.

"Don't worry about me. Just get in." The man said raising his voice slightly.

"Alright, sorry." Helene walked into the room and the man closed the door.

"And be sure to lock the door..." The man said as he collapsed on his knees.

-

Back to the wreckage of the bus. The boy from before was regaining consciousness. He was rather pissed off from being in a bus accident the first time. He mumbled obscenities as he grabbed his blue and black backpack and crawled out of the bus's window.

"Fucking idiot bus driver! He's really gonna get a peace of my mind when I..." The boy suddenly noticed after standing up that people were shuffling at him. He thought these guys really had problems as they were all rotting and wore bloody clothes. He looked around to notice a crowbar on the ground. He grabbed it and held it like a sword. "Get back or don't move closer at all freaks!"

The creatures continued advancing towards him. He prepared the crowbar for a swing.

"I said don't come any closer fags! One more step and you'll have a damn painful headache!" The boy threatened to hide his fear. The creatures still advanced towards him. "Alright take this!" The boy hit one of them on the head with the crowbar, instantly knocking off its head and the rest of its body fell dead on the ground. "Well shit..." The boy rammed through the other creatures and started running with cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

"What the hell are those things?" He exclaimed as a few more were up ahead. He knocked off one's head and knocked the other one down by kicking it.

"Fuck this! I have to get inside!" He looked around to notice some shops on the side of the street. There were more of those creatures that now sensed him and were shuffling towards him.

"Sorry, dinner's canceled!" The boy ran through the creatures and knocked a few down with powerful thrust kicks and his crowbar, not daring to touch them. He ran to a green door with a window on it. He broke the window into smithereens with the crowbar and climbed inside.

The boy got up to notice his luck was being generous as it was a weapon shop he just jumped into. But his relief was cut short as another creature inside the shop was advancing towards him. He was more than able to handle it as he just performed another horizontal swing on its head, taking it off instantly. He then noticed some of the creatures outside advancing towards the door. The boy noticed a bunch of weapon lockers and pushed them in front of the door, hoping they'll hold a while.

"Sir... what's going on?" The boy heard from the back of the room. He advanced towards the door in the back of the shop and knocked on it.

"Hello?" He said. "Open up."

The door slowly opened up until the boy quickly opened it and noticed a Japanese breed girl in there.

"W-who are you? What happened to the..." The girl noticed the shopkeeper's corpse on the floor with its head knocked off. "What did you do that for? Are you crazy!" The girl grabbed the boy by his t-shirt's neck.

"Hey! So it would have been better that he would have bitten me or something! I had to do it!" The boy blurted out.

"Oh... sorry." The girl bowed.

"Who are you anyway?" The boy asked.

"Helene. Helene Nayami."

"Japanese?" The boy asked.

"Yea. I'm originally from Kyoto, but I moved here with my family when I was only two. But what's your name."

"Josh. Josh Ellington," The boy now known as Josh answered. "What's going on in this city?" He asked.

"A few weeks ago some sort of disease struck town. It killed many people, including my grandmother and two of my best friends. Not long after that, people were becoming crazy flesh eating monsters or zombies in other words. Some say the disease caused this. Killing people, then bringing them back as monsters..." Helene explained scared.

"Well, where's the rest of your family?" Josh asked.

"My brother Osamo was just eaten by those monsters and my parents are gone. I last saw them when they left for work, but they didn't return."

"Where did they work?" Josh asked.

"They worked for Umbrella." Helene replied.

"The pharmaceutical company Umbrella Inc.? Yea, I hear this town is run by it. But enough about that. I'm getting out of this town." Josh said.

"I'm coming with you Josh. There's no hope for this city anymore so we both should leave." Helene said.

"Well, I'm not leaving empty handed..." Josh went behind the cash desk and started opening the drawers. He then found what he was looking for. "Sweet! A USP." He was holding a large, black pistol with a laser pointer. He then continued searching every drawer or locker that were left unlocked. He walked back to Helene. "Take this." He gave Helene another pistol that was slightly different shape and also had a laser pointer.

"A gun?" Helene looked at the weapon.

"Don't tell me you've never seen a SOCOM before?" Josh asked.

"Well, I've seen guns, but I'm not good with names." Helene said.

"Well, the SOCOM is an automatic pistol which can be equipped with the laser aiming module, making aiming pretty easy. It's large and a bit heavy to reduce the recoil after firing and can fire pretty far because of that. It has about... twelve or fifteen bullets in one clip." Josh explained. "But do you know how to shoot?"

"Well... no..." Helene ducked her head.

Josh sighed.

"Just point the gun at something you want to shoot at, like this, holding it with two hands." Josh showed and Helene followed. "After you aim what you want to fire at, pull the trigger and..." Josh pulled the trigger and a loud bang came out and a new hole appeared on the wall, Helene followed, but was taken aback a bit.

"Simple. You reload like this." Josh emptied out his own clip, but he put it back in. "You just have to take a full clip and not put the same one in. Which reminds me..." Josh double checked the drawers and found six packages of bullets. "We'll share these. But don't go all trigger happy with it since I doubt we'll have enough to shoot all the zombies."

"How do you know so much about these things?" Helene asked.

"My dad's a Marine commander. He's been teaching me this stuff. Stay behind me, cause I'm the only one with a close range weapon." Josh said as he motioned his hand to his crowbar that was now hung up on his belt.

Suddenly the empty weapon lockers were knocked down and two of the zombies was trying to climb in...

"Run!" Josh yelled as Helene ran back to the kitchen. Josh then did what kids shouldn't do as he quickly opened the cashier and grabbed a couple of hundred dollars from it, pocketed them, ran after Helene and shut the door. The first zombie finally got in and more were coming...

"Now what?" Helene asked.

"We go out that door." Josh pointed at another door in the back of the kitchen.

Josh carefully opened the door and pointed his gun in several ways until he finally came out and Helene followed. They were back into an alley, but it was wider and there were no zombies.

"Helene." Josh turned to the girl. "I'm not from Raccoon, so do you know any place here that could be a bit secure and we'd have a good chance of finding an escape route?"

"Well, there's always the police station." Helene said.

"Then it's settled, we're heading for the police station." Josh said.

The two ran through the alley and came to a metal barred door. The two teens could easily see one zombie standing there as it hadn't sensed them yet. Josh pointed his USP through the bars to motion the gun to point at the zombie's head. After a few seconds, he fired and the zombie fell dead on the concrete. The kids then opened the door and continued carefully to not get ambushed.

"Hard to believe this is really hapening. And I was just going to drive through here." Josh said.

"I'd probably be dead by now if you didn't come along." Helene said.

"Oh... well. Yea, maybe." Josh answered.

As the two carried on, they came to a narrowing in the alley and to their dismay, there were four zombies waltzing around with their sickening moans.

"Time to see how your shooting goes." Josh said as he pointed his USP at the zombies and Helene followed.

The zombies began approaching, but Josh opened fire and was pretty quick with that gun of his, but Helene was slightly shaky and didn't get so great head shots like Josh.

After a few seconds, the zombies were lying dead on the ground in their pools of blood. The two teens continued, but and unexpected thing happened. One of the zombies grabbed Josh's leg and tried to bite. Josh grunted as he tried shaking it off. Helene was about to shoot the undead creature, but Josh tore off the zombie's arms and continued on as the arms fell off of him limp on the ground. There was a door that was like the last one, only a bit rustier. Josh scanned through the bars to see nothing out of the ordinary. He opened the door and he along with Helene continued. The kids then noticed a net fence with a large hole on it and behind the fence were two small dog houses.

"Let me guess. Zombie dogs?" Josh asked himself.

"That's one of the creatures that killed my brother. I heard a bark and snarl before Osamo fell into that patch of zombies." Helene said growing nervous.

"Dog or not, it's not gonna stand up against my gun." Josh said as he tightened his grip on his USP.

The kids were suddenly startled by a blood curling yell from inside the alley. They went farther to see two zombified canines tearing the meat off a man's body. Helene and Josh felt pretty scared to see something like that. Then as the zombie dogs sensed the living flesh on the kids, they turned their attention to them from their meal. One of them growled as it slowly advanced towards. Josh was the quickest to react as he already had his USP firing at the zombie dogs with the approaching one getting a direct hit in its cranium, making the zombie dog fall more dead on the ground while the other one was rushing towards the kids with eyes showing hunger for blood. The dog leapt at Josh who just managed to dodge, but the dog was coming back for another one.

"Look out!" Helene yelled.

Josh was drawing out his crowbar, but the zombie dog knocked him down and was about to bite Josh's neck, but Josh used the crowbar to keep the dogs jaws away from him, but the dog was really strong and Josh was losing his grip on the crowbar.

"Shoot it!" Josh yelled! Helene was trying to aim, but was scared that she'd hit Josh. "What are you waiting for? Shoot it!"

Helene finally got the courage to fire, but she hit the zombie dog's back, making the canine turn its attention to her. The zombie dog leapt off Josh and was rushing at Helene, but something snapped inside Helene and she fired about five shots into the attacking dog, making it finally drop dead.

"That was some impressive shooting. You should join the military when you reach a certain age." Josh said dusting himself off.

"I'll think about it. I admit I'll never reach the same level of skill as you." Helene said.

"That'll happen if I let my guard down." Josh grinned.

The kids noticed the dead man slowly zombifying...

"Let's go." Josh said.

Helene nodded and the two continued their way through the alley. They continued suprsingly well without confrontations from zombies. They then stumbled to a barricade.

"Shit!" Josh kicked the barricade.

"That won't solve anything Josh. We should find a way somehow." Helene said. "Give me a boost, I'll see if it's safe back there."

"Okay." Josh knelt down, letting Helene climb on his shoulders. Jose stood up, letting Helene see behind the barricade.

"We're in luck." Helene said.

"What? Why?" Josh asked.

"It's the police station. We made it." Helene said.

End of chapter 1.

Chapter 2: Hellish behemoths

"So that's Raccoon's police station. Weird architecture in my opinion." Josh said as he and Helene scanned the surroundings. They had climbed over the fencing in the side and proceeded through a garden pathway to the front entrance. The two green painted oak doors were adorned with bronze handles and large white letters: R.P.D were placed above the door and on the left side of the letter was an American flag and on the right side was a blue flag with the Raccoon City police department's symbol on it.

"Hey, what's that?" Helene noticed something lying on the ground near the main gate.

The teens moved closer to something that looked like a dead man wearing a yellow vest with the letters: S.T.A.R.S sowed onto it and also had fatigue pants. His head seemed to have been pierced by something.

"He's dead..." Josh shook his head slightly.

"No reason to stay out here. Let's go in." Helene walked ahead into the police station and Josh quickly followed.

The kids entered the wide lobby of the Raccoon police department. Josh was speechless in a way about the building. The floors were made of marble with the R.P.D insignia and a majestic fountain was placed there with a statue of some sort of goddess statue placed into it. The place had two upper floors, both visible from the first level with wooden railings placed around them.

"This has got to be the weirdest PD I've seen." Josh said. "Aw hell. Least we're safe in here."

The kids walked up to the desk behind the goddess statue where a large wooden desk was placed, with pens and papers littering its surface and in the side was a computer with its screen still turned on. Helene spotted something shiny under the desks. She walked closer to the desk, pulled the rather large object from under the desk and examined it.

"A gun..." She picked up the slightly heavy two-handed weapon and showed it to Josh. "Care to explain what this is?' She asked.

Josh grabbed the gun and felt it while looking overly amazed and intrigued.

"Helene. What you've got here, is an actual Remington 870 shotgun. This is possibly one of the most kickass guns I've ever seen. But I'd still prefer a SPAS over this in any day." Josh was handing the new weapon back to Helene, but Helene put her hand in front of it and pushed in back to Josh.

"You keep it. I'll find myself dead with that." Helene said.

"And why's that?' Josh curiously asked.

"It's so heavy I won't be able to even aim. You can have it." Helene insisted.

"Sweet!" Josh strapped the shotgun around his chest. "I can't wait to see it in action!" He said excitedly.

"Ahem..." Helene shot an angry glare at Josh.

"Oh... right. Don't hope for zombies as target practice." Josh nodded nervously since he sometimes had trouble with angry girls. "But still, you won't last long without more heavy weaponry. C'mon, let's check this place out."

The kids headed through a set of double doors and entered a room with a big row of desks, a table laying on its side and lots of blood spilled around.

"This looks unpromising. Right Josh... Josh?" Helene noticed Josh rumacing through the set of lockers on the side and threw books and other junk out. "What are you doing Josh?"

"Looking for a little thing called shells. I found some..."Josh rumaced even more...

"GRUUAAH!" A thundering roar sounded right across the room.

Helene was shaking and Josh looked back, pocketing an extra package of bullets.

"Uh... Josh..." Helene was trembling. "What was that?"

"Dunno. And I'm certainly not..."

The door across the room burst open and in came a huge zombie-like being with a horrible grin on its face and was wielding a rocket launcher. It was dressed in black clothing and had a tentacle slithering on its shoulder.

"STARS!" The creature roared as it scanned its surroundings

Josh and Helene immediately took cover behind the knocked down table. Josh carefully peeked from behind to see what the gruesome thing was up to.

"Grraaar!" The creature roared and turned back, miraculously even closing the door behind it.

"What was that?" Helene asked shakily.

"Dunno and the fuck don't want to find out! Lets get outta here!" Josh grabbed Helene by the wrist and ran through the door they came in and were back in the lobby.

"Dammit! This place is equal as Hell to the whole city!" Josh punched the wall angrily. "We're so dead if we run into that thing." Josh's head fell lower.

"Don't worry, let's just go through that other door, and have a little peek." Helene suggested.

"Fine. But if that thing shows up again, I'm not going to be a hero." Josh blurted.

The two teens went through another set of doors and stumbled into a room with two zombies who were obviously cops when alive. The room itself must have been an office with a desk ahead with a type of wooden back placed onto it, making it impossible to see behind it. On the right were receptionist windows that were empty.

"Alright. Time to see this ol' Remington in action." Josh grabbed the Remington from his back and walked slightly closer to the closest zombie.

The zombie hungrily shuffled towards the Marine fan teen, only to have its head blasted off with a bloody burst as Josh fired a powerful shot out of the shotgun. He then reloaded it for another shot with the shotgun's pump.

"That was sickening, but this gun rocks." Josh said partly grinning. "Now for him..." Josh grabbed his USP from his belt and strapped the shotgun. "Wanna help?"

"Sure." Helene said and took out her SOCOM.

The teens aimed their guns at the advancing zombie. The laser sightings' beams were both aimed at its forehead and was instantly killed from two shots. Josh walked forward, only to be ambushed by another zombie that was hiding behind the desk's wooden cover. The zombie grabbed Josh by his shoulders and tried to bite, but Josh held it back with his arms.

"Josh!" Helene screamed.

Josh brought up his leg onto the zombie's abdomen and kicked it back and fired two shots out of his USP and the zombie was lying in a pool of blood.

"Be careful Josh. You almost got bitten." Helene said full of concern.

"That was nothing. By the way, do you have any self-defense skills other than just relying on me?" Josh asked curiously.

"Well, I know judo. But I just don't want to touch those things." Helene admitted.

"Then why not use kicks? A kick can be an effective weapon and if you're skilled enough, you could just snap of their heads and not waste ammo. All I can do is use my crowbar and surroundings. Dad taught me all of this." Josh explained proudly.

"Uh huh. I can certainly see you're no gentleman." Helene teased.

"Uh... I just like to act tough. I don't want to be scared so I try to act tough to make it out of this Hell hole alive." Josh said, feeling strangely hot. "Now let's get going..." They walked through another door behind wooden cover next to a window, but it was impossible to see what was outside since it was too dark outside...

They were now in a narrow hallway with shattered windows on the wall separating them from the outside.

"Better be careful. Who knows how many got in..." Josh informed Helene and they cautiously walked deeper into the hall.

Both were startled by a lying police corps on the floor with its head missing.

"Damn..." Josh thought as he examined the body.

"What could have done that? I bet those zombies could never rip something apart like this." Helene said. "Josh. Why are we walking in this hallway anyhow? I think the lobby was safer..." Helene said.

"I want to check one little thing in here. And it's not guns..." Josh said and continued on, but was shook up by glass breaking. He looked left to see a zombie climbing in through one of the broken windows. Helene caught up to Josh and was already pointing her SOCOM at the rotting sack of meat.

"Forget about it. Let's just mosey out of here." Josh and Helene ran out another door at the end of the hall to come out in another hall with all the windows barricaded.

"Seems peaceful enough." Helene said, but even this hall wasn't safe...

A sound of a dog's feet hitting the floor echoed through the hall and in a matter of seconds, standing some distance away from the teens, was a zombie dog, grolwing as it layed eyes on its 'meal'.

"Well shit..." Josh quickly grabbed his Remington and started taking aim. "Stay behind me Helene..."

The dog snarled with its infectious drool flowing down its mouth and dashed at the teen boy, but it got hammered by one shot of the Remington shotgun. Josh reloaded the shotgun with its pump again and strapped it on his back.

"Screw this shit!" Josh said agitated and took off running.

"Josh! Wait!" Helene ran after the boy. The two ran past a door that they had no idea what it would lead into and out another door at the end of the hall. "What's wrong with you?" Helene asked.

Josh grumbled slightly.

"Sorry. I thought I should check something out before heading out of here. This place is just getting on my damn nerves!" Josh said angrily. He continued off to a staircase and went up with Helene following, wondering what was so important in a haunted police department. As they arrived up, they ran into three zombies coming their way moaning for flesh. "Sorry, but not this after life!" Josh killed one of the zombies with his Remington and continued with his USP and Helene assisting with her SOCOM.

The two teens continued forward quietly without even saying a word. Helene was surprised by Josh's sudden change of personality. The teens came to yet another door and went through it. They were once again in a hallway, but this was gray and windowless and no zombies were walking around. They noticed another wooden door on the side with a sign that read: 'S.T.A.R.S office' on the side.

"Hmm. This should be interesting..." Josh went through the door and Helene followed. They came to a small room with desks and boxes. Josh's first reaction was to check the opened cardboard boxes with a small packet of bullets in it. He then tossed them over to Helene. "You could really use some..." Josh then went to a gray locker and found something else. "Hey Helene. Come over here. There's something that you could possibly use."

"What is it?" Helene walked over to Josh.

"This." Josh handed Helene a bow gun and a small pack of bolts. "It's a bow gun. Lightweight and easy to use."

"You're giving it to me? It almost seemed you only wanted weapons." Helene said.

"Nah, I'm not a big fan of bows, but it could suit ya. Only thing useful for me is this box of shells." Josh said as he put a few shotgun shells in his emptier pockets and put the rest of them in his back pack, but he suddenly noticed his cell phone in the bag. "Yes! I can call for help!" Josh, now full of joy searched his dad's number and called. He only heard six beeps until his smile went upside down. "Shit! He's probably at work late again..." Josh then noticed the radio on the side of the locker and he tried it. All he got was static... "Oh for the love of fucking shit!"

"So there's no way to call for help?" Helene asked dispirited.

"No... Let's hope my dad sees the call on his cell when he's done briefing soldiers. I'm gonna go look around some more. Ya comin'"

"There's no way I'm staying here Josh. Lets go together." Helene said.

The two teens left the room and continued down the hall and came yet to another door, only it was locked. A distinguishing fact was that it had a keyhole shaped like a spade.

"Well guess its back to the S.T.A.R.S room to wait." Josh said and turned back.

"Wait! I can probably fit through that went up there. I'll see if I can unlock the door from inside." Helene volunteered and climbed up into the went with no need for help from Josh. Helene jumped down and was in a small room with a vending machine, a couch and a small hallway to the left. As she turned to unlock the door, she was distracted by a hissing noise. She carefully looked around until she noticed spit falling on the floor. She then looked up to see one of the most horrible things imaginable. A human sized creature hanging on the roof upside down with a pinkish, nearly skinless body, huge, razor-sharp looking claws, its brain showing and had a long tongue hanging from its mouth which had rows of razor-sharp looking teeth. The thing hissed as it seemed to sense her. Helene screamed and frantically tried to unlock the door, but no use, it needed the key. Helene pressed herself next to the wall as she looked at the creature advancing towards her. The thing screeched and jumped down on the floor.

Josh heard Helene scream another time and he was now a hundred percent worried.

"Helene? Helene? What's going on? Helene?" Josh pounded on the door, but no answer. "Oh no... It's all my fault... God Dammit she's dead!" Josh banged on the door with his fist, but like it would do anything. "I... I'm outta here! I'm sorry Helene! I couldn't protect you!" Josh was now really afraid of all the demise going around so he quickly unstrapped his shotgun and ran out of the hall and into the hall with the staircase, but right when he was going for the stairs, he met a horror more gruesome than the zombies or the dogs. Josh took a few steps back from this gruesome being. It seemed to be a brown haired scientist with his right arm grown extra large with a large, red eyeball staring right at him. The monster had really huge, bone claws with blood dripping from the, getting the idea it had massacred several people tonight. The monster roared with an inhuman voice and advanced towards Josh, who was shivering. As the creature slashed at him, Josh ducked just in time and ran to the left towards the statue, trying to make a plan to fight the monster.

"Ok. Don't panic Josh... It's a slow, huge armed freak with fucking claws that can splice my head open in an instant. Well, guess it's time to meet my fate. Do I die or live? I'm counting on ya Remington." Josh peeked to see the monster advancing towards him, roaring again as if outraged. Josh opened fire with his Remington and fired another burst of shots at the monster that was affected as it roared from obvious pain and swung its arm with the claws, knocking the statue between itslef and Josh, but Josh was still far enough from the creature and fired again, this time hitting its heart area. The creature growled again as it thrust its claws that got stuck in the wall. Josh got a quick glance of a tag on the torn lab coat on the monster that read: 'William Birkin' and 'Umbrella Inc.' "Sorry mister Birkin, but this is for your own good..." Josh fired another shot into the creatures heart, making it topple on the ground still roaring. Josh took another shot to make sure the thing was dead. "See ya, don't wanna be ya!" Josh ran down stairs, but got curious about a door he didn't notice before, that was next to the staircase. He went in to find only a small box of bullets from an open drawer and a notepad on the table. He ignored it and got out, not wanting anymore surprises.

Josh then headed for a white door he also didn't notice that was on the end of a hall. He prayed it would be unlocked and that there were no more freaks waiting for him inside. His first prayer was heard as the door opened, and his second prayer was also partly answered as there were only zombie corps laying on the floor. He checked through the green shelves to find most of them unlocked, but found a few shots and a combat knife, but he already had a crowbar, so he decided to put the knife into his backpack just in case. He then looked to see one of the zombie's eyes pointed straight at him, so he fired one shot from his USP and the zombie moaned as it fell dead for good. Josh then went through another door in the room, but noticed it was the room he and Helene entered before seeing that huge zombie with the rocket launcher. He shuddered at the thought of seeing it and took off running right through the office and into the main hall. He then went outside through its rough oak doors, back into the zombie infested streets. Next unfortunate setback was the dead man lying on the ground had risen up as a zombie, but Josh thought it wouldn't do any good to waste his ammo, so he took off running out through the main gates.

He arrived out in the streets, to find them a mess with shattered glass on the floor, a fire hydrant knocked off from the ground and the water spewing out, broken crashed cars on the sides of the street with a few zombies trying to break out of them. Josh ignored them and headed left to luckily spot a red, metallic door that was hung open. He entered with his USP pointed in front to make sure he was ready to fight anything that came at him. As he turned around the corner, he saw a dead man with a green uniform with a red and white umbrella marking on his left sleeve. He had a bullet hole on his head, so he got the idea he shot himself.

"So many people, dying for no reason. I'll be glad this is over." Josh said. He continued on, but noticed a flock of crows sitting on the side of a building's roof. He got a strange feeling those animals were as crazy as the dogs, so he made a run for it. The crows took off flying straight at him. The teen boy ran quicker and went through a barred door and closed it behind him, seeing some of the crows still trying to come after him. He came to a junked up street with a few zombies slouching towards him, but he learned not to fear those rotting freaks and grabbed his USP, shooting at anything rotting. He wasn't worried about bullets since he still had plenty of clips, a crowbar for close combat and his new Remington. He of coarse was afraid deep down inside, now since Helene was obviously dead. He could never forgive this as he kept thinking it was his fault the girl died.

"Hmm. Where to go..." Josh looked carefully right and left to decide which way to go. Both roads came to a stop, but he could go inside a restaurant in the left, while it could be full of more freaks, while he could climb over the wreckage on the right. "Screw it. Right seems better anyway." Josh cautiously walked right, but noticed another soldier being mauled by a zombie dog. Josh opened fire with his USP, killing the dog, but his clip went emptied. As he was reaching for another clip, two more dogs ran through the wreckage with the taste for Josh's flesh. Josh managed to just put in the clip as one of the dogs nearly bit him on his leg, but he dodged and brought a nasty kick into the dogs jaw and shot four bullets into the other dog that was also really close, but it fell from the USP's shots, the other dog he had kicked was still growling at him as it snarled to grab Josh's foot, but Josh shot the thing in the eye, but it was more than able to pierce the brain as the dog fell dead on the floor. "Down boy..." Josh said angrily.

Josh was then climbing up the wreckage to hear a door being bust open. He tried to ignore as he made it on top of the wreckage, but then heard someone yelling.

"Get back! Stay away from me you rotting freaks!" A young soldier ran the same direction as Josh with a huge pack of zombies following him. The man opened fire with something that seemed like an M4A1 assault rifle. The man was so scared his aiming was off as a few zombies fell, but most of them kept coming moaning for meat.

"Up here! Get up here!" Josh yelled over to the soldier.

The man ran away, but right then he was ambushed by the soldier that was recently dog food. The soldier zombie bit him on the leg, causing him to yell in pain as he shot the zombie on the head, but it had already made an unbearable wound on the soldier's leg. The man was slowly crawling towards the wreckage Josh was on, but the zombie pack caught him and started tearing away at his flesh. The man screamed as the whole pack was on top of him and Josh could only watch in horror with the man being slowly devoured.

The zombies that had now eaten most of the soldier then sensed Josh and wanted his meat next. The pack started to try and climb up the low wreckage and one of them was close to reaching Josh's foot, but Josh stepped back.

"There's no satisfying you ass holes, is there?" Josh seemed to be asking from the zombies and then ran away on the wreckage and jumped down into another street. He looked around to notice several zombies around, so he holstered his USP and grabbed his Remington. "I must survive this nightmare. I've got people waiting for me and I'm going to get to them..."

Is Helene really dead? Will Josh make it out of Raccoon city alive? Find out later when the story continues...


	2. Chapter 2: Hellish Behemoths

Chapter 2: Hellish behemoths

"So that's Raccoon's police station. Weird architecture in my opinion." Josh said as he and Helene scanned the surroundings.

"Hey, what's that?" Helene noticed something lying on the ground.

The teens moved closer to something that looked like a dead man wearing a yellow vest with the letters: S.T.A.R.S sowed onto it and also had fatique pants. His head seemed to have been pierced by something.

"He's dead..." Josh shook his head slightly.

"No reason to stay out here. Let's go in." Helene walked ahead into the police station and Josh quickly followed.

The kids entered the wide lobby of the Raccoon police department. Josh was speechless in a way about the building.

"This has got to be the weirdest PD I've seen." Josh said. "Aw hell. Least we're safe in here."

The kids walked up to the desk behind the mistress statue and Helene spotted something shiny. She walked closer to the desk and examined it.

"A gun..." She picked up the heavy two-handed weapon and showed it to Josh. "Care to explain what this is?' She asked.

Josh grabbed the gu and felt in amazed and intrigued.

"Helene. What you've got here, is an actual Remington 870 shotgun. This shotgun is pretty popular with the army. But I'd still prefer an SPAS over this in any day." Josh was handing the new weapon back to Helene, but Helene put her hadn in front of it and pushed in back to Josh.

"You keep it. I'll find myself dead with that." Helene said.

"And why's that?' Josh curiously asked.

"It's so heavy I won't be able to even aim. You can have it." Helene insisted.

"Sweet!" Josh strapped the shotgun around his chest. "I can't wait to see it in action!"

"Ahem..." Helene shot an angry glare at Josh.

"Oh... right. Don't hope for zombies as target practice." Josh nodded nervoulsly since he sometimes had trouble with angry girls. "But still, you won't last long without more heavy weaponry. C'mon, lets check this place out."

The kids headed through a set of double doors and entered a room with a big row of desks, a table laying on its side and lots of blood spilled around.

"This looks unpromising. Right Josh... Josh?" Helene noticed Josh rumacing through the set of lockers on the side and threw books and other junk out. "What are you doing Josh?"

"Looking for a little thing called shells. I found some..."Josh rumaced even more...

"GRUUAAH!" A thundering roar sounded right across the room.

Helene was shaking and Josh looked back, pocketing an extra package of bullets.

"Uh... Josh..." Helene was trembling. "What was that?"

"Dunno. And I'm certainly not..."

The door across the room burst open and in came a huge zombie with a horrible grim on its face and was wielding a rocket launcher. It was dresssed in black clothing and had a tentacle slithering on its shoulder.

"STARS!" The creature roared as it scanned its surroundings

Josh and Helene immediately took cover behind the knocked down table. Josh carefully peeked from behind to see what the gruesome thing was up to.

"Grraaar!" The creature roared and turned back, miraculously even closing the door behind it.

"What was that?" Helene asked shakily.

"Dunno and the fuck don't want to find out! Lets get outta here!" Josh grabbed Helene by the wrist and ran through the door they came in and were back in the lobby.

"Dammit! This place is equal as Hell to the whole city!" Josh punched the wall angrily. "We're so dead if we run into that thing." Jose's head fel lower.

"Don't worry, lets just go through that other door, and have a little peek." Helene suggested.

"Fine. But if that thing shows up again, I'm not going to be a hero." Josh blurted.

The two teens went through another set of doors and stumbled into a room with two zombies who were obviously cops when alive.

"Alright. Time to see this ol' Remington in action." Josh grabbed the Remington from his back and walked slightly closer to the closest zombie.

The zombie hungrliy shuffled towards the Marine fan teen, only to have its head blasted off with a bloody splurt as Josh fired a loud shot out of the shotgun. He then reloaded it for another shot with the shotgun's pump.

"That was sickening, but this gun rocks." Josh said partly grinning. "Now for him..." Josh grabbed his USP from his belt and strapped the shotgun. "Wanna help?"

"Sure." Helene said and took out her SOCOM.

The teens aimed their guns at the advancing zombie. The laser sightings' beams were both aimed at its forehead and was instantly killed from two shots. Josh walked forward, only to be ambushed by another zombie that was hiding behind a shelve. The zombie grabbed Josh by his shoulders and tried to bite, but Josh held it back with his arms.

"Josh!" Helene screamed.

Josh kicked the zombie back and fired two shots out of his USP and the zombie was lying in a pool of blood.

"Be careful Josh. You almost got bitten." Helene said full of concern.

"That was nothing. By the way, do you have any self-defense skills other than just relying on me?" Josh asked curiously.

"Well, I know karate. But I just don't want to touch those things." Helene admited.

"Then why not use kicks? A kick can be an effective weapon and if you're skilled enough, you could just snap of their heads and not waste ammo. All I can do is use my crowbar and surroundings. Dad taught me all of this." Josh explained proudly.

"Uh huh. I can certainly see you're no gentleman." Helene teased.

"Uh... I just like to act tough. I don't want to be scared so I try to act tough to make it out of this Hell hole alive." Josh said, feeling strangely hot. "Now lets get going..." They walked through another door behind the shelve next to a window, but it was impossible to see what was outside...

They were now in a narrow hallway with shattered windows on the wall separating them from the outside.

"Better be careful. Who knows how many got in..." Josh informed Helene and they cautiously walked deeper into the hall.

Both were startled by a lying police corps on the floor with its head missing.

"Damn..." Josh thought as he examined the body.

"What could have done that? I bet those zombies could never rip something apart like this." Helene said.

"Well, I'll give him my respects since he luckily had this box of bullets with him." Josh said as he pocketed the bullets.

"Josh. Why are we walking in this hallway anyhow? I think the lobby was safer..." Helene said.

"I want to check one little thing in here. And it's not guns..." Josh said and continued on, but was shook up by glass breaking. He looked left to see a zombie climbing in through one of the broken windows. Helene caught up to Josh and was already pointing her SOCOM at the rotting sack of meat.

"Forget about it. Let's just mosey out of here." Josh and Helene ran out another door at the end of the hall to come out in another hall with all the windows barricaded.

"Seems peaceful enough." Helene said, but even this hall wasn't safe...

A sound of a dog's feet hitting the floor echoed through the hall and in a matter of seconds, standing some distance away from the teens, was a zombie dog, grolwing as it layed eyes on its 'meal'.

"Well shit..." Josh quickly grabbed his Remington and started taking aim. "Stay behind me Helene..."

The dog snarled with its infectious drool flowing down its mouth and dashed at the teen boy, but it got hammered by one shot of the Remington shotgun. Josh reloaded the shotgun with its pump again and strapped it on his back.

"Screw this shit!" Josh said agitated and took off running.

"Josh! Wait!" Helene ran after the boy. The two ran past a door that they had no idea what it would lead into and out another door at the end of the hall. "What's wrong with you?" Helene asked.

Josh grumbled slightly.

"Sorry. I thought I should check something out before heading out of here. This place is just getting on my damn nrves!" Josh said angrily. He continued off to a staircase and went up with Helene following, wondering what was so important in a haunted police department. As they arrived up, they ran into three zombies coming their way moaning for flesh. "Sorry, but not this after life!" Josh killed one of the zombies with his Remington and continued with his USP and Helene asisitng with her SOCOM.

The two teens continued forward quetly without even saying a word. Helene was suprised by Josh's sudden change of personality. The teens came to yet another door and went through it. They were once again in a hallway, but this was gray and windowless and no zombies were walking around. They noticed another wooden door on the side with a sign that Read: 'S.T.A.R.S office' on the side.

"Hmm. This should be interesting..." Josh went through the door and Helene followed. They came to a small room with desks and boxes. Josh's first reaction was to check the opened cardboard boxes with a small packet of bullets in it. He then tossed them over to Helene. "You could really use some..." Josh then went to a gray locker and found something else. "Hey Helene. Come over here. There's something that you could possibly use."

"What is it/" Helene walked over to Josh.

"This." Josh handed Helene a bow gun and a small pack of bolts. "It's a bowgun. Lightweight and easy to use."

"You're giving it to me? It almost seemed you only wanted weapons." Helene said.

"Naw, I'm not a big fan of bows, but it could suit ya. Only thing useful for me is this box of shells." Josh said as he put a few shotgun shells in his emptier pockets and put the rest of them in his back pack, but he suddenly noticed his cell phone in the bag. "Yes! I can call for help!" Josh, now full of joy searched his dad's number and called. He only heard six beeps unitl his smile went upside down. "Shit! He's probably at work late again..." Josh then noiced the radio on the side of the locker and he tried it. All he got was static... "Oh for the love of fucking shit!"

"So there's no way to call for help?" Helene asked dispirited.

"No... Lets hope my dad sees the call on his cell when he's done briefing soldiers. I'm gonna go look around some more. Ya comin'"

"There's no way I'm staying here Josh. Lets go together." Helene said.

The two teens left the room and continued down the hall and came yet to another door, only it was locked. A distinguishing fact was that it had a keyhole shaped like a spade.

"Well guess its back to the S.T.A.R.S room to wait." Josh said and turned back.

"Wait! I can probably fit through that went up there. I'll see if I can unlock the door from inside." Helene volunteered and climbed up into the went with no need for help from Josh. Helene jumped down and was in a small room with a vending machine, a couch and a small hallway to the left. As she turned to unlcok the door, she was distracted by a hissing noise. She carefully looked around until she noticed spit falling on the floor. She then loked up to see one of the most horrible things imaginable. A human sized creature hanging on the roof upside down with a pinkish, nearly skinless body, huge, razor-sharp looking claws, its brain showing and had a long tongue hanging from its mouth which had rows of razor-sharp looking teeth. The thing hissed as it seemed to sense her. Helene screamed and franticakky tried to unlock the door, but no use, it needed the key. Helene pressed herself next to the wall as she looked at the creature advancing towards her. The thing screeched and jumped down on the floor.

Josh heard Helene scream another time and he was now a hundred percent worried.

"Helene? Helene? What's going on? Helene?" Josh pounded on the door, but no answer. "Oh no... It's all my fault... God Dammit she's dead!" Josh banged on the door with his fist, but like it would do anything. "I... I'm outta here! I'm sorry Helene! I couldn't protect you!" Josh was now really afraid of all the demise going around so he quickly unstrapped his shotgun and ran out of the hall and into the hall with the staircase, but right when he was going for the stairs, he met a horror more gruesome than the zombies or the dogs. Josh took a few steps back from this gruesome being. It seemed to be a brown haired scientist with his right arm grown extra large with a large, red eyeball staring right at him. The monster had really huge, bone claws with blood dripping from the, getting the idea it had massacred several people tonight. The monster roared with an inhuman voice and advanced towards Josh, who was shivering. As the creature slashed at him, Josh ducked just in time and ran to the left towards the statue, trying to make a plan to fight the monster.

"Ok. Don't panic Josh... It's a slow, huge armed freak with fucking claws that can splice my head open in an instant. Well, guess it's time to meet my fate. Do I die or live? I'm counting on ya Remington." Josh peeked to see the monster advancing towards him, roaring again as if outraged. Josh opened fire with his Remington and fired another burst of shots at the monster that was affected as it roared from obvious pain and swung its arm with the claws, knocking the statue between itslef and Josh, but Josh was still far enough from the creature and fired again, this time hitting its heart area. The creature growled again as it thrust its claws that got stuck in the wall. Josh got a quick glance of a tag on the torn lab coat on the monster that read: 'William Birkin' and 'Umbrella Inc.' "Sorry mister Brikin, but this is for your own good..." Josh fired another shot into the creatures heart, making it topple on the ground still roaring. Josh took another shot to make sure the thing was dead. "See ya, don't wanna be ya!" Josh ran down stairs, but got curious about a door he didn't notice before, that was next to the staircase. He went in to find only a small box of bullets from an open drawer and a notepad on the tabel. He ignored it and got out, not wanting anymore suprises.

Josh then headed for a white door he also didn't notice that was on the end of a hall. He prayd it would be unlocked and that there were no more freaks waiting for him inside. His first prayer was heard as the door opened, and his second prayer was also partly answered as there were only zombie corps laying on the floor. He checked through the green shelves to find most of them unlcoked, but found a few shots and a combat knife, but he already had a crowbar, so he decided to put the knife into his backpack just in case. He then looked to see one of the zombie's eyes pointed straight at him, so he fired one shot from his USP and the zombie moaned as it fell dead for good. Josh then went through another door in the room, but noticed it was the room he and Helene entered before seeing that huge zombie with the rocket launcher. He shuddered at the thought of seeing it and took off running right through the office and into the main hall. He then went outside through its rough oak doors, back into the zombie infested streets. Next unfortunate setback was the dead man lying on the ground had risen up as a zombie, but Josh thought it wouldn't do any good to waste his ammo, so he took off running out through the main gates.

He arrived out in the streets, to find them a mess wth shattered glass on the floor, a fire hydrant knocked off from the ground and the water spewing out, broken crashed cars on the sides of the street with a few zombies trying to break out of them. Josh ingnored them and headded left to luckily spot a red, metallic door that was hung open. He entered with his USP pointed in front to make sure he was ready to fight anything that came at him. As he turned around the corner, he saw a dead man with a green uniform with a red and white umbrella marking on his left sleeve. He had a bullet hole on his head, so he got the idea he shot himself.

"So many people, dying for no reason. I'll be glad this is over." Josh said. He continued on, but noticed a flock of crows sitting on the side of a building's roof. He got a strange feeling those animals were as crazy as the dogs, so he made a run for it. The crows took off flying straight at him. The teen boy ran quicker and qwent throug a barred door and closed it behind him,seeing some of the crows still trying to come after him. He came to a junked up street with a few zombies slouching towards him, but he learned not to fear those rotting freaks and grabbed his USP, shooting at anything rotting. He wasn't worried about bullets since he still had plenty of clips, a crowbar for close combat and his new Remington. He of coarse was afraid deep down inside, now since Helene was obviously dead. He could never forgive this as he kept thinking it was his fault the girl died.

"Hmm. Where to go..." Josh looked carefully right and left to decide which way to go. Both roads came to a stop, but he could go inside a restaurant in the left, while it could be full of more freaks, while he could climb over the wreckage on the right. "Screw it. Right seems better anyway." Josh cautiously walkedright, but noticed another soldier being mauled by a zombie dog. Josh opened fire with his USP, killing the dog, but his clip went emptied. As he was reaching for another clip, two more dogs ran through the wrecakge with the taste for Josh's flesh. Josh managed to just put in the clip as one of the dogs nearly bit him on his leg, but he dodged and brought a nasty kick into the dogs jaw and shot four bullets into the other dog that was also really close, but it fell from the USP's shots, the other dog he had kicked was still growling at him as it snarled to grab Josh's foot, but Josh shot the thing in the eye, but it was more than able to pierce the brain as the dog fell dead on the floor. "Down boy..." Josh said angrily.

Josh was then climbing up the wreckage to hear a door being bust open. He tried to ignore as he made it on top of the wreckage, but then heard someone yelling.

"Get back! Stay away from me you rotting freaks!" A young soldier ran the same direction as Josh with a huge pack of zombies following him. The man opened fire with something that seemed like a H&K G36. The man was so scared his aiming was off as a few zombies fell, but most of them ept coming moaning for meat.

"Up here! Get up here!" Josh yelled over to the soldier.

The man ran away, but right then he was ambushed by the soldier that was recently dog food. The soldier zombie bit him on the leg, causing him to yell in pain as he shot the zombie on the head, but it had already made an unbearable wound on the soldiers leg. The man was slowly crawling towards the wreckage Josh was on, but the zombie pack caught him and started tearing away at his flesh. The man screamed as the whole pack was on top of him and Josh could only watch in horror with the man being slowly devoured.

The zombies that had now eaten most of the soldier then sensed Josh and wanted his meat next. The pack started to try and climb up the low wreckage and one of them was close to reaching Josh's foot, but Josh stepped back.

"There's no satisfying you ass holes, is there?" Josh seemed to be asking from the zombies and then ran away on the wreckage and jumped dwon into another street. He looked around to notice several zombies around, so he holstered his USP and grabbed his Remington. "I must survive this nightmare. I've got people waiting for me and I'm going to get to them..."

Is Helene really dead? Will Josh make it out of Raccoon city alive? Find out later when the stroy cotinues...


	3. Chapter 3: All is explained

Chapter 3: All is explained...

Josh reloaded his trusty Remigton to prepare for a bloody battle against the zombies that were advancing from not too far off. The city known as Raccoon was sure as the biggest hell on Earth. Josh was overdosed with adrenaline from the current demises of people. First was Helene, the half Japanese girl who he found in the weapon shop and headed to the police station, but she was killed by something in the other side of that door he was trying to reach. This was only the beginning of this nightmare...

"You hungry? Huh? Ya hungry you rotting bastards?" Josh yelled to hide his fear, shivering slightly as he held the Remington, ready to bust off some decaying heads of the zombies who were originally Raccoon's civilians.

A zombie that seemed to be a blond haired kid in Josh's age was stubling towards its fleshy meal. Josh looked at the thing with disgust from the rotting skin and the white eyes with no sign of the pupil, as if the zombies were blind. What was more disgusting was the gaping hole in the zombie's stomach with guts from probably someone else dripping out. Josh couldn't stand that and killed the zombie, sending its soul to a better place...

Josh then had to notice a bunch of zombies following him from the wreckage he went over a few seconds ago. Josh counted at least twenty five zombies in the current street, if he turned his back towards any of them, he'd soon be dead. Josh finally decided to head for the closest unlocked door, unfortunantly not seeing one anywhere. He however did manage to find his escape: a water spout leading up onto a large building to the left. He shot one more zombies that was about six feet away from him and ran for the spout. Josh grabbed the sides of the spout and started climbing. He was thankful to have his gloves on that provided extra friction to the spout and his sneakers were also a great help, as he was almost on the roof on the two-story building, he looked down to see the zombies trying to follow up, but were too stupid to climb. Josh stuck in his mind that if he falls, he's dead.

Josh made it on the roof, but he couldn't stand up since he would likely slip and fall into his doom. He climbed up the roof and slid down on to the other side, noticing another trashed up street with only a few zombies, but they were after someone. Josh could make out a young woman with short, brown hair, a blue tube top and a black mini skirt. Whoever she was, she was good with that gun she had. It was some type of shotgun, but she was too far for Josh to see it. The woman then headed out of sight with the zombies trying to catch her, but were slow as hell. Josh climbed down on another spout. He looked around to see if there would be anything worth investigating and found what he was looking for; a building that read Raccoon Times on the top of the door. With no hesitations, Josh headed in...

The Raccoon Times was also completely messed up. There was junk and garbage all over the lobby, broken vending machines and debris along with it. The place seemed zombie free on this side of town. Josh finally thought he'd be safe in here. He continued examining the room and his curiosity was switched over to a room that was on fire. He ran into the room, being careful not to get burned. As he made it to the upper level of the building, he spotted a lying corpse of a zombie with lots of holes pierced through its chest.

"Must have been a machine gun of some type..." Josh thought.

Josh walked silently and carefully into the next room on the side of the hallway, hoping there weren't more zombies around. He entered a stuffy room with desks around and papers scattered here and there on the desks and the floor along with a few computers with cracked or broken screen on the desks that were covered in Post-It notes. And to top off the lovely decoer of the room, there were two more corpses in there. Josh suddenly felt something hard and cold touch his back.

"Don't shoot!" Josh yelled instantly raising his hands up, he knew in two seconds the thing pointed to his back was the barrel of a gun.

"Oh, you're still alive..." said a new voice.

Josh turned around to come face to face with a living human. He had blond hair cut really short like with a soldier along with some stubble. He wore a familiar looking green uniform with an umbella logo on the right sleeve and on the back. He was armed with what Josh identified as an M4A1 Carbine assault rifle.

"Who are you?" Josh asked, assuming it was safe to speak.

The man snorted slightly.

"Name's Ricky Wallace. But enough about me, who are you?" The soldier asked with a youthful voice.

"I'm Josh Ellington." Josh replied instnatly. "Hey, aren't those military guys out there your comrades or somethin'" Josh asked.

"Yea. We're the U.B.C.S, Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service. Got sent here to clean up this mess, but it all went bad right after we landed. I got separated from my team during a gun fight, so I hid in here." Ricky replied.

"Umbrella has a military?" Josh felt like laughing. "Why would some pharmacy company send in soldiers to a ghost town of all places?"

"If ya wanna know kid, Umbrella sort of started all this." Ricky began, "A couple of months ago there was an accident in one of its laboratories located in the Arklay mountains in the outskirts of the city. After that explosion the cause of all these zombies and freaks flooded in slowly..."

"What... Are you talking about that disease Helene told me about?" Josh asked curiously.

"Yea. That disease as you call it is called the T-virus. During briefing we were told it can turn humans into zombies and animals into freaks. We were sent in to help the civilians, but there's so many of those monsters and they sometimes won't even fall from machine gun fire." Ricky said, sitting down on one of the desks on the side making some papers and trash fall limp on the floor.

"Well if you are a military guy, why don't we help each other in getting outta here alive?" Josh asked.

"Are you crazy! Going out there as a walking buffet for those zombies!" Ricky asked.

"Hey, I've made it this far all the way from the city's entrance! I don't want to stay here, so I'm gonna get the hell outta here. But I also want to help out. I'm not letting everyone die like what happened to Helene out there." Josh looked at his sneakers in shame.

Ricky stayed quiet for some time. Josh got the idea the soldier was not going to help so Josh turned to leave...

"Hold on kid." Ricky got off of the table and unstrapped his assault rifle. "I'll come with you as long as you're not greedy with wanting all that heavy weaponry." Ricky smirked.

"Great. By the way, you got an automatic?" Josh asked.

"Yea. What about it?" Ricky asked.

Josh tossed a couple of boxes of bullets to Ricky.

"That's why. I've been getting alot of those bullets that I don't know what to do with 'em all." Josh replied.

"Ok. Stay behind me kid and we'll be outta here before you know it." Ricky said confidently.

"Hey, I may be a kid, but I have experience with fighting. My dad's a Marine commader and he's taught me how to shoot and defend myself, so I'm not gonna just watch you back." Josh said annoyed.

Ricky sighed in almost admitted defeat.

"Fine. We both watch our backs." Ricky said. "Let's go..."

The duo exited the Raccoon Times office and out into the trashed streets of the city. The familiar stench of decay invaded the boy and soldier's nostrils. It gave a sick feeling. Only dangers were the four zombies mindlessly stumbling towards the two humans. Josh didn't want trouble so he opened fire with the USP. He had plenty of time to aim as he tried to get the laser point hit the zombie right in the forehead. After pulling the trigger, a hole was etched on the rotting man's forehead, making it fall face forward into the pavement.

"Nice shot kid." Ricky complimented. "Now watch a pro in action." Ricky pointed his gun at the three remaining zombies, twisting his had so the gun was pointed horizontally. As Ricky fired, he let the recoil push his arm to point at the next target. Josh had heard of this tactic which is commonly used in China. In a matter of seconds the three zombies were dead with two or three bullet holes in their foreheads.

"Okay I admit. Even with all that military training I had, you're better." Josh admitted defeat.

"You ain't seen nothing yet. You should see how sergeant Ginovaef shoots. Best soldier in our unit if I do say so myself." Ricky replied, reloading his Sigpro just in case another skirmish.

"I wonder what happened to that woman who ran by here." Josh brought up. "She was good with that shotgun."

Next to happen was a loud banging and smashing noise coming from behind a glass door opposite of a barred gate. Ricky brought up his M4 and Josh un-strapped his Remington, just to make sure they would stand a chance to something that large. Next they heard heavy footsteps.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Josh whispered. He felt like his hands were shivering, trying to imagine what was behind that door. His answer came at the blink of an eye.

The door opened revealing a large body covered in a black leather trench coat. Accompanied by a slithering tentacle on its shoulder, a face which looked like it was just leather knitted on with one white eye staring at the U.B.C.S soldier and the teen. What made it more intimidating was the rocket launcher it was wielding. The thing exhaled slowly with a scary growl coming out at the same time.

"STARS!" The thing bellowed.

"Oh no! Not again!" Jopsh yelled, backing away.

"Someone you know?" Ricky asked.

"Lets just say catching a peek of him is enough to get to know him..." Josh swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

The monster lifted up the arm wielding the powerful rocket launcher and was slowly pulling on the trigger.

"RUN!" Ricky yelled after taking a few shots at the monster and running to the side with Josh.

The monster fired and a missile came screaming out of the rocket launcher, striking the gate opposite if itself, obliterating it completely. Josh wondered how can he fight something that can use a rocket launcher at that ease since the thing had no trouble walking with it. The monster headed towards Ricky for shooting it in the chest. Josh wasn't going to let anyone die again, so he went behind the behemoth and shot the thing right in the head only a few feet away from it, making the thing collapse face first.

"Well, that's that." Josh smirked, strapping on the Remington.

"Graaah!" The monster suddenly started getting back on its feet slowly.

"Or not!" Ricky started pumping led into the monstrosity, but only to get plowed backwards into a junked up car.

Josh was backing away with cold sweat flowing down his face. He shot the damn thing in the head from such range the monster's brain would have become mush. What if this thing was invincible? Josh tried aiming for the being's eye with the USP, but then the monster dashed towards him with incredible speed, grabbing the unexpecting teen by the shirt collar and threw him a couple of feet away. Josh was hurt so bad he couldn't get up with all the pain moving around his body. He could still see the monster coming at him, obviously going to smash his head with its enourmous boot wearing feet. But the monster had other things in mind. He grabbed Josh again with one arm and a purple tentacle came slithering out of the other arm. The monster was slowly lifting up its other arm.

Now Josh understood. The thing was going to decapitate him with the tentacle. Josh closed his eyes tightly, but then a shot rang, making him peek through one eye. The monster turned its attention towards the decimated gate. The woman Josh saw was standing there with some sort of revolver at hand with smoke coming out of its muzzle.

"S.T.A.R.S!" The monster dropped Josh, landing painfully on his ass.

The monster was now coming after the woman with the same tentacle hanging out of its sleeve. The woman ran around the creature and shot it twice in the chest, making the monster stagger backwards, but it also got it more raged as it was still coming at her. She started reloading the revolver, but as she tried to grab a speed loader, the monster grabbed her by the neck and was about to decapitate her. Josh wanted to repay the woman, so he charged towards the monster and kicked it in the head, distracting it from the executing the woman.

"Hey, ugly. Good night!" Josh had his Remington's muzzle almost stuck to the monster's face and fired.

The power of the shot made the monster drop the woman, but she managed to keep her footing. The monster was now staggering backwards in a drunken kind of manner and fell on its back with purple blood coming out of it. "S.T.A.R.S..." The thing let out and fell completely limp.

"And stay dead!" Josh threatened, but like the behemoth could hear him.

"Whew... Thankyou." The woman said, looking at Josh. Now Josh could see all the woman's details. She had a milky complexion, brown hair that reached down her neck and blue eyes. She was dressed in a blue tube top, black miniskirt with a white sweater tied around her waist and she wore boots that almost reached up to her knees.

"Uh... You're welcome." Josh replied, doing his best to only look at the woman at her face, being very careful not to look down at her cleavage. "I should thank you for saving me from that thing."

"This monstrosity's been following me throughout the city. And no matter how much I shoot at it, it just keeps getting back up." The woman replied.

Ricky was now regaining consciousness. He got off from the wrecked remains of a car, first making sure his bones were all intanct. So all he only had a few bruises. He bent down to pick up his M4A1. "Something I miss?" Ricky asked.

"Hey, aren't you one of those U.B.C.S guys?" The woman asked after noticing the mans existence.

"Yea. At your service. Thanks for saving the kid while I was out cold." Ricky replied. "I'm Ricky Wallace and the kid's Josh. What's your name?"

"Jill. Are you crazy, letting a child fight against those monsters?" The woman asked.

"No worries Jill. I've been learning about fighting eversince I was eight. My dad's a commander for the Marines. But I do admit his training did not include zombies created from a virus and big monstrosities with rocket launchers." Josh said assuringly.

"But still, even with military training, you shouldn't be out here. You two should head for the cable car over in that direction." Jill said, looking at the demolished gates that lead to the Raccoon city hall.

"A cable car?" Josh asked.

"There are two survivors waiting there. I'm trying to gather all the things we need to start the cable car and get out of here to some evacuation point I was told of." Jill explained.

"I could help you find those things so we could get out faster." Josh said.

"No. I won't put a child in danger. Ricky, could you take him there?" Jill asked the U.B.C.S merc.

"No problem. C'mon Josh." Ricky walked off pulling Josh with him by his coat collar.

"I hate being treated like some damn little kid! I'm fiteen for God's sake!" Josh retorted.

"Stop complaining Josh. I agree with the woman that putting in someone young like you is a bad idea." Ricky replied, letting go of Josh's coat neck and then readiyng his Sigpro handgun.

Josh sighed and lifted his USP to defend himself. As Josh and Ricky headed forward, they got shocked from a couple of windows to their right bursting open with four zombies sliding out. Three of them got up and started slouching towards their living targets. The last one pulled itself with its arms. Ricky was the fastest to react by shooting the closest zombie right between the eyes, making it go down instantly. Josh got to shoot the one on the ground while Ricky already shot down the second zombie that was standing. Josh accidentally shot the last zombie on the leg, making it fall on the ground with enough time for Ricky to stomp its head onto the concrete, letting a pool of its viral blood surround itself.

"Next time I go traveling I'm taking the plane over a bus." Josh said as he continued towards their destination.

"Quit complanining kid. You're here and stuck." Ricky replied.

"Don't talk like that man. You sound like we'll never leave this town alive." Josh replied.

"There's more of that possibility than you think. If my whole platoon couldn't fight off those things, how do you excpect the two of us to succeed?" Ricky asked.

"Well we were doing pretty good just a few seconds ago." Josh retorted, checking his clip as he walked on. "Or if you're a quiter type."

"That's pretty brave of you to say that to someone like me." Ricky replied.

"Whatever. Lets just find that stinking cable car and see what happense next." Josh blurted and walked past Ricky.

"Okay, sorry. Feel any better?" Ricky asked sarcastically, not liking Josh's tough guy attitude one bit. He was guessing his father must have been a stubborn soldier as well.

"As a matter of fact, maybe if we get out of here first." Josh replied. He headed towards a wooden door in the end of the walkway. The door looked rather old and had a metal ring for a knob.

They then came to a garden-like yard with nice looking flowers growing on both sides of the walkway and long vines were growing on the walls. The place was not so relaxing because of all the chaos. Coast being clear, Josh and Ricky headed down the walkway, not knowing what dangers lurked up ahead. They came to yet another barred door...

This side of the city was completely trashed. A dead man layed on the ground with his back torn open. Ricky having the lead, walked up... Suddenly the corpse grabbed hold of the mercenary's foot and tried taking a bite.

"Gah! Dammit!" Ricky grunted and used his other foot to smash the corpse's head into a pile of decayed skin, blood and bone.

"Watch out man. That almost happened to me as well." Josh replied, notcing Ricky's breathing get quicker.

"It's just too damn hard to know if it's dead or not." Ricky solemnly replied.

"Why the fuck would Umbrella do something like this? What good does a bunch of zombies do?" Josh asked, loking at the dead man.

"I suppose that virus was made to be some bio-weapon. But I gotta hand it to you kid, staying alive alone in here with these really has me impressed." Ricky replied and continued on, but after five steps, he came to a sudden halt. "Uh, kid, you may want to take that shotgun right about now..."

Josh walked besides Ricky to see what it was about. The next thing he saw was by far something he won't forget too easily. Next to a junked up car, a whole horde of zombies were feeding on someone's carcass with smacking noises of the raw flesh and tearing at the skin sounded. Josh suddenly held his stomach and took a few steps back. In an instant he bent over and puked out half of his last meal onto the pavement. He coughed up a few more chuncks before standing up straight again.

"That's the grossest thing I've seen in the world!" Josh shouted.

"I know kid. Brace yourself..." Ricky replied and took aim with his M4A1. He pulled the trigger lightly and a shot rang out, hitting one of the zombies in the back.

Feeling this, the rotting man stood up from its meal and extended its arm sand shuffled towards the two humans, quickly accompanied by its undead brethren.

"Now! Diiiiieeee!" Ricky shot as many zombies as fast as he could in the head areas. Having only two downed, he thought of saving ammo and took out his Sigpro sidearm and started taking some shots in the rotting humans' neck areas.

From inside the latter of zombies, one of them came in a faster pace. This zombie was just a little kid, a girl probaby only seven and the young form was covered in blood and a bite mark was on her left arm. Josh saw the incoming attack from the zombie and blasted the zombie back several feet with his Remington. The child zombie hit an older zombie on the leg and made them both topple on the ground. Josh pumped on the shotgun and fired another blast that decimated half of the child zombie's face and tore a leg off the older zombie it toppled on. Ricky having one zombie get too near, delivered a thrust kick to knock the monster backwards and fired a shot into the middle of its face. Having the last zombie downed, the two humans breathed out as a sign of relief.

Before heading on, Ricky poked one of the zombies with the least bullet holes to make sure its dead with his foot. So far, the zombies only twitched every three seconds or so.

"That wasn't so bad." Josh said, feeling confident zombies were nothing against them.

"Don't get cocky kid. There's more of these things that are more dangerous to deal with than these zombies." Ricky replied as he checked his clip.

"You mean the dogs? They weren't that bad either." Josh replied and fitted more shells into his shotguns chamber in case of another ruckus.

"No kid. I'm talking about skinless freaks with long tongues. Does that sound too familiar to ya?" Ricky asked.

"Damn... uh... sorry man." Josh replied, cold sweat reappearing on his back.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be safe at our current destination. At least a little while..." Ricky replied. "So lets get going."

Josh and Ricky went through another rusted gate just a few feet away from the pile of dead zombies. Ricky went first and Josh followed. Josh suddenly heard a low creacking noise that startled him. Looking around, he saw nothing coming at him. He shrugged it off and continued on. Right after shutting the barred door, the green car behind the gate busted open and a zombie came at him. The thing reached through the gate with its hands and grabbed Josh by his shoulders. The teen screamed as he tried to get the dead guy off of him, but despite that, the zombie was pretty strong.

"Ricky! Help!"

Ricky looked and gasped seeing the boy getting yanked hard by the undead monster that tried to get at Josh's neck, but the bars of the door made the attempt rather difficult. Ricky ran over to Josh and slammed his fist along with his handgun on the zombies arm and instantly broke it off, making it easier for Josh to tear himself away since it was hard to keep him from escaping with one arm. Josh instantly pointed his gun at the zombies face and landed a shot into its mouth. The zombie was taken aback by the shot's power, but then Josh fired another shot that hit the dead man in his forehead. The zombie fell down with a bloody splat as its decaying head nearly bust open. Josh panted heavily from the ordeal, but managed to stay sane.

"God damn... son of a bitch..." Josh cussed.

"Get over it kid. It couldn't have bitten you not matter how much it tried." Ricky replied. "There! I can see the cable car." Ricky pointed towards, past a pile of junk was the tip of a yellow and red cable car.

"Well what are we waiting for? Lets go!" Josh sounded demanding as he took off running.

"Yep... He's scared. Though that determination reminds me of me when I was his age. Oh well." Ricky thought and followed Josh. "Wait for me kid!"

Josh climbed over the pile of rubish and hoped down on to the pavement behind it. Josh gasped again, having lost count how many times he'd done that tonight. One of those dogs he'd seen earlier that night was waiting for him behind the wreckage. It angrily growled at the boy as it slowly aproached. Josh wasn't going to let the sicko mutts take him down again for the second time. Josh pointed his USP at the crazed canine and landed one shot on its leg, breaking it and making the dog collapse. Josh angrily took his crowbar and whacked the dog on the head with it until its skull was so badly dented that its brain couln't fit in its head. The victory was short lived as another one came running at him from the side. The dog leaped at Josh, ready to tear his head open, but a sudden hail of bulets knocked it back and the zombie dog hit the steel wall of the cable car, leaving a bloody print on it.

"If your old man really is a Marine commander kid, hasn't he taught you never to run straight into a trap?" Ricky asked.

"How was I supposed to know there was a fucking mutt waiting for me?" Josh asked angrily.

"Whatever kid. Lets get in there before more of them come." Ricky said.

The two headed down to the door that was farther down. Rivky went in first and Josh went after in to the cable car.

The cable car looked more sane than any other place in the city Josh had seen tonight. The cable car may have been old, but surely sturdy. The inside had white walls with green seats on the sides and a wooden, non painted floor. Lying on the right side seat row was a wounded U.B.C.S soldier...

"Liutenant Mikhail!" Ricky gasped.

The soldier ran over besdies the large man. "Sir, are you alright?"

Mikhail just layed there, looking at the ceiling. After a few seconds the man looked at Ricky's direction.

"Comrade Wallace? You're alive?" The man asked.

"Yea. Sir, you haven't been bitten or anything? We have to get that wound checked up as fast as possible." Ricky said.

"A survivor? Are ther any more of them?" Josh asked.

"T-there's one in the front car. We're the only two here. We-we're waiting for Carlos and Jill to return with the esentials we need to get... out of here. I'm alright comrade, I wasn't bitten, an explosion scarred my arm very bad and now I'm reduced to lay here and I can't do anything." Mikhail rpelied.

"Don't worry sir. We'll be outa here soon. We'll get ya checked up and then get the fuck outa this city. Trust me sir..." Ricky said.

Josh was more curious about this other survivor. He went into the front car.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Josh asked.

"Josh?" Asked a familair voice.

Josh noticed a girl sitting on the left side seat row of the. The girl had black, long hair, was from an Asian ancestry. She was clad in a red long sleeved shirt, black jeans held up with a blue belt, red and black fingerless gloves and gray sneakers. Placed next to the girl was some sort of grayish assault rifle with a short barrel and resembled something of a FAMAS, only smaller in size. Josh instantly knew this girl.

"Helene! You're alive!" Josh excalimed.

"Yea. It's good to see you're fine too." Helene said with a soft voice.

Josh ran over to Helene and sat next to her, since he had been running a lot the past hours. He placed his Remington on the seat next to him and his backpack on the floor next to his feet.

"How'd you survive? I thought you were a goner." Josh said.

Author: Helene's alive! Sorry for the delay if anyone actually reads my crap. Next chapter will be up very shortly...


	4. Chapter 4: Of past and fear

Chapter 4: Of past and fear 

"_I never realy did believe this was possible. Raccoon City, a necropolis turned into the land of the dead. I'm still alive, but how long can I continue on to survive? If it wasn't for Jill or Ricky, I would be gone. For once tonight, I'm happy. Happy that Helene's safe. I will survive and so will Helene, Ricky, Jill and this Mikhail I just met. Can I guarantee it?" _

Josh had made it to the cable car which is supposed to be his ticket out of the city limits. He met the liutenant of Ricky's batalion Mikhail and ran into Helene, who Josh thought had died in the R.P.D building...

"How'd you survive? I thought you were a goner." Josh said to Helene who was seated next to him.

"I thought so too at first. When I climbed into that room through the vent, this horrible creature came at me from the roof." Helene explained.

"What kind of creature? You know, in case we run into those things by any chance." Josh said.

"A skinless monster with a long tongue, huge claws and razor sharp teeth. The thing was sure going to get me, hadn't I shot it in the back with that bow gun you gave me." Helene explained.

"No need to thank me. So what did you do afterwards?" Josh asked.

"I did what I do best, ran. I ran into the R.P.D:s library and got myself into the lobby, that's where I saw some dead zombies. I thought staying in that place would be too hazardous, so I ran outside. Strange thing is I didn't see you." Helene continued her story.

"That's probably since I was in the hall fighting this freak formerly known as William Birkin. Some freak with enormous claws and a damn eye in its shoulder. I ran out into the streets afterwards and eventually made it here with Ricky, he's in the back with that Mikhail guy." Josh replied to that.

"I got here with the help of Carlos. He just left after treating some wound he obtained, claiming he came from a gas station that was attacked by zombies and he saved some woman's life." Helene replied.

"Who's Carlos?" Josh asked.

"He's one of those Umbrella mercenaries. He told me everything, his mission, the zombies and about the T-virus. Worst of all my parents of all people worked for Umbrella..." Helene replied.

"Hmm, what department were they in? Since if it's a pharaceutical company, did they work as researhers, chemists?" Josh asked.

"They claim they worked on some research for miracle cures. Probably the first aid spray or similar products. I just couldn't stand if they had something to do with _this_." Helene replied.

"I just see no point in using this T-crap as a viral weapon. I see absolutely no point. Why turn your opponents to mindless zombies that'll eat your brains out once they spot ya?" Josh said, his newfound hate for Umbrella rising.

Helene lifted her legs onto her seat and put her arms around them. She looked unhappier than before what Josh figured. She was from Raccoon so she must have lost many loved ones... He tried to cheer her up.

"So Helene, what will you do when we escape?" Josh asked.

"I'm not sure if we can escape at all." Helene replied with a sad tone. This made Josh cringe...

"Don't be like Ricky! Helene, I promise you we _will_ leave Raccoon City alive and ticking. If we managed to get this far, then what made you think we're gonna die?" Josh asked.

Helene looked at Josh with a part sad and part surprised expression. Despite being trapped in a doomed city with little chance to escape and no contact...

"Wait Josh! You had your mobile right?" Helene suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh yea!" Josh suddenly started digging for his cell phone. He found it, and much to his dismay it had cracked from various places, probably since he was tossed by that huge monster Jill saved him from and got his back banged against that gate outside when that zombie grabbed him. It still worked, so that was all that mattered. He started searching for his dad's number. He found it and pressed the call button... suddenly the screen went blank and the mobile's lights stopped shining.

"Oh fuck!" Josh cussed hitting his seat. His mobile had ran out of power and at the most inapropriate time. "Why now? For the love of God why now?..." Josh's head felt numb as it started hanging low with a dispirited look on the teen's face. "Maybe we are... No... I can't think like that."

Helene was more surprised that despite Josh's chance to call his father to send a Marine batallion or something to save them, Josh still sounded sure he will survive. Josh had calmed down and to top it off, he took out the clip of his USP and started checking the clip. Helene thought that since they were probably going to become the best of friends during this adventure trial to survive, she decided she wanted to know more about the boy.

"Hey Josh..." Helene got Josh's attention.

"Yea?" Josh replied, fitting more bullets into his current clip, but was paying attention, no doubt.

"Since we may have to be friends now, I thought maybe, you know. Get to know each other." Helene said.

"Uhuh." Josh replied, putting the magazine back in and pulling on the guns barrel and finally checking was the safety on.

"So, where are you from?" Helene asked.

Josh put away the USP and started checking his shotgun by starting to empty its chamber. "Lush Acres, Arizona." Josh replied. "Nice town surrounded by some forest and farther it becomes more of a rugged terrain. It's pretty warm during this time."

"Do you have many friends or maybe even a special girl for instance?" Helene curioulsy asked.

"I guess. Got my buddies Raul and Darryl and some accquaitnaces. I don't really have a girlfriend, must be since I'm hanging around with those two. They're always at it, every week trying to impress someone." Josh smiled. He fited the next eight shells into his shotgun, pumped it and put the safety on.

"I didn't have that many friends either. Like you, I had acquaintances. I just hope that at least someone from my school is safe..." Helene said.

"So you were lonely?" Josh asked.

"Well, kinda. I didn't see anything great hanging out with Wilberforce. I guess Lisa was a good acquaintance since we spoke from time to time. Sadly everyone grew distant from her when she started being with that downtown kid. What was his name... Jack Carpenter. Also there was this boy who was also originally from Japan. His name was Kenny. I hardly knew anything else about him, except that he was working at the R.P.D and we only spoke when he bumped into me once when he was in a hurry." Helene talked.

"Hmm. I almost had some weird thoughts about that. Oh and don't mind them. When was the last time you saw them?" Josh asked.

"Yesterday. I was at a party at Lisa's place with my brother Osamo, but one of the guests suddenly killed someone and we all fled. Upon getting out, a lot of us got attacked by zombies. My brother and I were some of the lucky ones and managed to get back home. We stayed there for one night until it was time we left. That day we ran, so much that I wonder how many kilometers. My brother protected me with a pistol and as night settled in, we were running for our lives with no ammunition. Osamo was caught by one of those monsters and... he died. He sacrificed his own life to save me... That was shortly before meeting you Josh..." Helene looked at Josh, her eyes showing signs of fear and sorrow, to top it off with a few tired blinks.

"Helene." Josh placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry all this happened. I really am. You've had a tough day and the battle's not over yet." Josh talked, sounding soft. "Just try to get some sleep, you'll need it. I'll stand guard."

"I'm not so sure. I'm afraid to close my eyes. Knowing those things are out there." Helene replied. The thought to sleep at least for a few hours did sound inviting however...

"Hey, if I see you having a nightmare, I'll hold your hand or somethin' or snap you out of it." Josh replied.

"Well... okay." Helene closed her eyes and tried relaxing.

Josh still sat next to her with his USP already in his grasp. The inside of the cable car was quiet, unlike the city. The burning of the fire still sounded through the walls and windows, but no barks or moans were heard. Surely the entire area they were in wasn't cleaned of all undead, who wondered how many were on their way now, sniffing out their flesh's scent. Josh ducked his head a little and supported it with one arm to make the night's happenings sink in. He was stuck in a doomed town full of flesh eating zombies and other large monsters. Waiting inside a cable car with three other people, hoping for some sexy woman to get them out of there. Now that he remembered, Jill had been gone for quite a while.

Josh snapped out of his thought as the door was swung closed. It was Ricky with his assault rifle strapped over his shoulder.

"Do you mind? She's sleeping." Josh said in a quiet, yet emotional tone.

"Sorry." Ricky said and sat down onto the opposite seat row. "Whose she?"

"That's Helene. I thought she died, but she managed to escape." Josh replied, looking at the sleeping girl. Her face looking so delicate and...

"Ah. You've got a crush." Ricky said grinning.

"Wha?" Josh stuttered. "No I don't. I've known her for only a couple of hours."

"Admit it kid. I can tell by the way you were looking at her." Ricky teased.

"Whatever. If it interests you, she was helped by one of your comrades. I think it was some Carlos guy." Josh said, crossing his arms.

"Carlos? So he's still alive." Ricky said.

"A friend of yours?" Josh asked.

"Yea. I was part of the platoon he's in. Like I said, almost all of us were killed. Only ones I saw alive before getting split were Mikhail, Carlos, Matt, Reneé, Christina and Nicholai. I guess the girls and Matt didn't make it." Ricky shook his head slowly, remembering his comrades. "I've known Carlos since I was drafted."

"I can bet how it feels to loose a friend. I lost one becaue he tried weed sold to him by some dealer." Josh replied.

"Did anyone catch that dealer mother fucker?" Ricky asked.

"Dunno. It was three years ago, so don't recall. I had been trained for four years at that time. From a little runt into something I am now." Josh talked.

"Heh. When we get outa here, I really want to meet your dad since he's so great as you claim." Ricky replied.

"Why not just draft yourslef into his team? He could use someone like you." Josh said.

"Just might do that."

The two heard the door in the other car open and close. Both went in and saw another U.B.C.S soldier. He had an olive complexion and wore the same uniform as Ricky, only the sleeves were torn by the person himself, porbably to show the ladies his well built muscles. His hair was dark brown and was rather messy from all the ordeals. He was armed with the same M4A1 Carbine ricky used.

"Carlos?" Rikcy seemed to notice this man.

"Ricky? You're still alive?" Carlos was surprised to see his war buddy.

"It's good to see you're alive buddy." Ricky said.

"Same here." Carlos replied.

The two men high-fived.

"So that makes... six survivors in all?" Carlos asked, seeing Josh.

"Seven actually. There's Helene in the other car." Josh cut in. "My name's Josh, Marine trainee."

"You better believe that man. This kid is just unbelievable. He took down a super sized zombie wielding a rocket launcher with this Jill woman." Ricky said, feeling proud for the teen.

"You mean Nemesis. I had a run in with that ugly too with her in that restaurant. She should be back any minute with the machine oil for the cable car and booya. We're outa here." Carlos said.

"That's a relief. But Carlos, what are the means of our evacuation?" Josh asked, his hopes to get out of the dmaned city rising.

"We're heading for the Raccoon clock tower where an evac chopper is supposed to take us up and out of here. Don't worry Josh, you and your friend back there will be alright." Carlos assured, giving a thumbs up.

"You mean girlfriend?" Ricky asked, looking at Josh who was fuming from his remark.

The door in the back of the cable car opened. Helene came out with her small assault rifle.

"Oh, sorry for waking you Helene." Josh said nervously.

"It's okay, I had enough of nighmtares for one day. I'll manage." The teen girl replied. "Oh, Carlos, you're back."

"Yea. Jill should be back, so we can get outa here." Carlos said to Helene.

"That's good news."

"Just remember. The clock tower can be crawling with those monsters too. Be sure to check all your equipment before we head off." Ricky said.

"Already did that." Josh said smirking as he held his USP with one hand. "Helene, we should check out your guns too."

"Right." Helene replied and layed her assault rifle onto the seat row opposite of the one Mikhail was lying on. Josh finally managed to get a good look at the gun.

"Ah, a Steyr AUG nine millimeter rifle. You got yourself a keeper here." Josh said, admiring the assault rifel.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. So we just check the clip and that's that." Helene said, taking out the current clip.

"Looks like you've got nineteen bullets left. You have enough nine millimeter rounds?" Josh asked.

"Carlos gave me all of the bullets he found for this rifle. I think I can manage." Helene replied as she fitted some nine millimeter bullets into her current clip. She placed the package of bullets into one of her backpack's pouches. Next she opened the biggest pouch and took out the crossbow Josh gave him in the RPD. The arrows were there too. She placed three arrows onto the bow and was done reloading.

"So, I guess you didn't need your SOCOM too much." Josh said, now knowing what devices the girl had with her.

"I guess. Carlos cleared most of the way while I was only as back up with the rifle. I used the bow only once, against that tongued monster in the R.P.D.." Helene replied.

"You should first use the sidearm and if anything as bad as Nemesis comes at us, then use the heavier equipment." Josh said. He seemed to zone out for a second and then took off his backpack and started looking for something.

As Helene fitted five 45. caliber bullets into the clip of her SOCOM pistol, Josh pulled out the combat knife he found. He held it by its blade and offered it to Helene. "You should take this too. Just in case."

"I'm not too sure." Helene replied. "I may now know how to shoot and reload, but knives are really not my thing."

"Well then, I'll teach you how to use it." Josh stood up and held the knife like he's supposed to. "Now first, you gotta counter-balance it, or simply put it into a position that you can aim and strike easily. Since a zombie's weak spot is the head, aim up and lunge out with a thrusting attack and pierce the head..."

Ricky and Carlos just watched as Josh was showing how to use a combat knife.

"Wow, I admit. He is good." Carlos said nodding.

"Uhuh. He claims his father's a Marine commander who's been teaching him these things eversince he was little." Ricky replied.

"It explains how he stayed alive and was able to protect Helene for a while. And you maybe." Carlos said.

"Hey! I was letting him watch my back. Besdies, Jill told me to take him here and nothing else..." The soldiers' attentions were drawn to the slam of the door.

"Well, I'm back." It was Jill.

"Hey Jill. Here, I got something for you magnum." Carlos said and gave Jill some rounds.

"Thanks. Alright, I'll just pour the oil in and we can leave." Jill said. She then noticed Josh showing some knife moves to Helene. "Spirity guy ain't he?" Jill asked the two mercs.

"I guess." Carlos replied. "I'll go operate the cable car."

"Right, I'll watch over liutenant Mikhail." Ricky said.

"Oh, guys. I've got some bad news." Jill said, sounding sorry. "Nicholai, won't be going with us..."

"... I undestand." Carlos replied.

"Damn, that guy dead? No way..." Ricky shook his head.

Jill opened the cork of the canister she was holding onto the entire time and poured the brownish substance carefully into an opened oil tank. "Alright, we're set." She put down the empty canister and followed Carlos into the car with the controls.

"Hey Josh, Helene. You should sit down, we're heading out." Ricky said to the two teens.

"Right." Josh nodded and handed Helene the knife. "So you got all that?"

"I guess." Helene said glancing at her shoes.

"Great. Lets just sit back, relax and we'll soon be out of this place." Josh said and sat onto the seat row Ricky was on accompanied by Helene.

In a very, very short pass of time, the cable car shook and slowly started to move. Josh looked outside as some zombies tried catching up, but no avail for being so slow. The next things to be seen were some junked up buildings and flames. They were everywhere... Josh looked back down onto the dusty floor of the cable car. The car suddenly shook and the roof near the entrance door collapsed down with something coming through the roof.

"GRRAAAHH!" The thing roared.

Everyone looked at the thing with wide eyes full of fear. The brown lumpy skin, the single white eye staring down on them. The purple tentacles slithered on its shoulder and under its black trench coat.

"Fuck! Smiley boy's back!" Josh shouted jumping up from his seat with his Remington locked and loaded.

Helene ran for the door leading to the cotrol room. "Jill! Carlos! Nemesis is here! It's in here!" She shouted.

Ricky pointed his M4A1 at the monstrosity and was ready to pull the trigger. Unfortunantly Josh beat him to it and shot the monstrosity in the chest. Angered, Nemesis lifted Mikhail off the seat row and threw him towards Josh, but Josh dodged and Mikhail was almost knocked unconscious.

"Liutenant!" Ricky gasped. "You son of a bitch!" Ricky started firing at Nemesis, getting its attention. Nemesis felt like hurting this little man who was keeping it from accomplishig its mission to eliminate the woman who it had chased all night. It grabbed Ricky by the neck and threw him at the door, making the mercenary fly right into the control room. Jill came rushing in with her magnum revolver drawn, staring at the monster with fire in her eyes.

"Everyone, get out! It's after me and I will fight it!" Jill said with her voice full of rage.

"No way Jill! You're not fighting him alone!" Josh came to her side with his shotgun aimed accuratly at the being's face.

"No! Josh, you're too..."

"He may be young, but he's a real soldier! I'm in this too!" Ricky grunted holding his aching head. "This mother fucker hurt liutenant and threw me twice today and now it's payback! Keep operating the cable car Carlos!"

Nemesis looked around. Three targets in all... If anyone got in its way, he or she will feel its endless wrath.

"Grraaagh! S.T.A.R.S!" The monster dashed towards Jill with its arm extended to grab her.

Jill and Josh both fired at the same time, making Nemesis stagger back and hold its pained face. It looked down onto its palm to see its purple blood spilt on its glove. Angrily it popped one of its tentacles from its arm and was coming after them both.

"Surprise cockfag!" Ricky went behind the monster and fired as much lead into the behemoth as he could, getting its attention.

"Now!" Jill shouted. This caused Josh to fire at Nemesis' chest and Jill fired one more shot into its face. This made Nemesis fall face forward on the floor.

"Is it dead?" Ricky asked pointing his assault rifle at the monster.

In a few seconds, Nemesis rose back onto its feet.

"Grraa!" It growled.

"Everyone! Get out of the cable car!" Mikhail stood up with his assault rifle at hand.

"Mikhail don't!" Jill protested.

"Go! Now!" Mikhail shouted and started shooting.

"But liutenant!" Ricky also protested.

"Go comrade! That's an order!" Mikhail demanded, knowing he will surely die, but he would die defending his comrades..

Everyone agreed and ran into the control room. Nemesis now stood agasint a lone attacker. It walked towards Mikhail with its always evil expression still on its face.

"Come on! Take that!" Mikhail's shouts sounded through the rapid gunfire. Suddenly the gun only let out audible clicks.

Nemesis angirly grabbed the soldier and threw him onto the side wall, knocking the man's green beret off his head and his rifle had flown out of his reach. He tried to reach for it, but Nemesis then threw him forward, even farther from the assault rifle.

"No... just a little closer..." Mikhail still tried reaching for his weapon.

Mikhail saw the tentacle bursting out from the sleeve of Nemesis' right arm and it was coming at him. With a last resort Mikhail grabbed one of his grenades and pulled the pin...

_BOOM_! A large explosion made Nemesis fly out with its body in flames and it landed on the tracks of the cable car.

"No... liutenant..." Ricky sobbed for the loss of his leader.

"Guys! We've got problems! The breaks are out!" Carlos shouted desperately trying to get the breaks to work.

Jill looked out the window and saw the cable car moving too fast. It was going to crash...

"We have to jump! Now!" Jill ran towards the closest window and jumped through it.

"Jill!" Carlos gasped.

"Ooh _shit_!" Josh shouted as the tracks came to an end.

The cable car was thrown into the air and landed with tremendous force onto the ground, bursting in flames...

Another chapter done. I would personally like to thank Hyperactive Hamster of Doom for letting me borrow things from Project Lucifer. That story is a beautiful piece of work.


	5. Chapter 5: Hospital of Doom

Chapter 5: Hospital of doom 

"Josh..."

Josh Ellington, a teen trapped inside Raccoon city. He layed unconscious on the hard ground next to a burning wreckage of the cable car...

"Josh!" Josh felt a hard slap on his face. He started regaining consciousness, first he let out a slight grumble.

His eyes opened a little, seeing the darkness of the night sky. His mind started recalling all the recent happenings. He entered the cable car, he met Mikhail and Carlos and found out Helene is not dead. Jill came and got the cable car up and running. Nemesis crashed through the roof and tried killing everyone in the car. Mikhail sacrificed his own life to stop Nemesis. The cable cars breaks were out and Jill jumped out of the cable car and the cable car had crashed...

Josh suddenly got up gasping for air.He looked around to see himself lying on some rubble with Ricky and Helene kneeling besides him. The night was still not over and the smell of smoke came to his smell senses. He felt his head aching and his arm felt like it was on fire.

"Whoa. Take it easy kid. You're hurt..." Ricky said.

Josh looked at his right arm to see it was bandaged up and could make out some blood oozing from under it.

"That bandage won't fix the wound entirely. You need medical attention in order to get it fixed. I'm sorry kid, but I wasted my first-aid spray on some teammates earlier today." Ricky said.

"Wait, Ricky, the Raccoon City hospital is close-by." Helenen brought up.

"The hospital? Well then. Lets go before this wound gets infected." Josh said, getting up. "Did you get all our equipment?"

"Yea, thank God. And I had to drag your unconscious body out of the wreckage and you were out for about and hour or so. But with that bad arm I'm not sure if you can shoot." Ricky replied.

"Hell yea I can shoot!" Josh said, now standing, but clutching his injured arm. "I just want out of this fucked up town and I won't stop because I'm wounded. Give me my weapons." Josh demanded.

"Fine. It's your arm kid." Ricky said and gave Josh his USP back and strapped the Remington around the boy's chest. "Helene, you need to lead us to the hospital since you know this town better than we do. Okay?"

"Yes. Follow me." Helene said and started walking away from the burning wreckage, followed by Ricky and Josh.

Josh noticed they were walking besides a large stone wall. Beyond it he could see a tower with a clock built into it. It must have been the clock tower evacuation point. Hopefully they could patch up Josh's arm and then find a way into the clock tower grounds and get out of the city.

Helene suddeny stopped and took two steps bacwards.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked.

"Dogs..." Helene gulped.

Josh peered and could make out three walking forms. Their claws clicked onto the pavement and the little lighting was going to make aiming hard.

"Okay! Take that mother fuckers!" Ricky started firing with his assault rifle. The bullets semed to have hit one as the dog was sent flying backwards.

The other two canines dashed towards their pray. Josh aimed with the USP and fired six shots, but only two managed to hit one of the dogs. Ricky could faintly make out the closest dog's form and swiftly pulled out his Sigpro sidearm and fired at the dog. The crazed zombie canine let out a yelp and fell. The third canine was getting rather close, almost having caught Helene, but from a rush of adernaline, Helene kicked the dog in the face and fired with her rifle. Josh remembered that the nine millimeter Steyr couldn't fire in rapidfire shots, so he helped, but his aiming was a little off since he managed to pierce the downed dog's snout. The dog was about to rush again, only to be pushed back with its head nearly decimated as Helene fired at it again.

"Wow. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Ricky asked.

"Josh and Carlos taught me." Helene replied.

"No wonder you like her so much." Ricky whispered to Josh, who grumbled as a reply.

"Lets just find that hospital..." Josh murmured.

After about a twenty minute walk, the survivors ran into a pile of junked up cars and rubble.

"If I recall correctly, the hospital is beyond this junk pile." Helene said. "But I'm not sure if we can get over it."

Ricky stepped up and took a grip on the junk pile with both hands. "Ah, sure we can. Watch this." Ricky placed his right foot on the junk pile and gave himself a boost, pulling himself onto the pile. "See? Easy. Helene, you next."

Helene extended her hand and Ricky grabbed it and hleped the teen girl pull herself up. Josh then hung his USP on his belt and also exteneded out his hand and Ricky also pulled him up. They looked ahead to an open street with rubble everywhere and there were a few zombies prowling around. The survivors climbed down, Josh having more difficulty since he didn't want to strain his hurt arm too much. He managed to get down, but after his feet touched the ground, Ricky was already having fun shooting the closest zombies with his handgun.

"Don't start the fun without me guys." Josh grabbed his handgun and fired with one arm, his shots being more accurate now since it was brighter there, thanks to the lamp-posts.

Helene decided to join the fight too and like Josh suggested, she used her SOCOM pistol. The shots from this handgun seemed more effective compared to Josh's USP and Ricky's Sigpro, since it used Colt 45. rounds, which were more powerful than the nine millimeter rounds. Sadly the zombies' numbers seemed to be multiplying since more and more just kept coming.

"Kids, we gotta run." Ricky said and switched to his assault rifle. "There's too many of 'em, so we gotta run past them and into the hospital!"

"Right! Lets go Helene!" Josh replied. He did not like the idea of getting cautiously close to zombies since their bites and scratches could infect them with their disease, but it was really their only choice.

"Go!" Ricky shouted and ran ahead, Josh and Helene following close by.

Ricky's assault rifle let out bullets towards the zombies in front of him to clear the way. Josh also managed to down a few on the side with his handgun. Helene suddenly screamed as a zombie grabbed her from behind and attempted to bite. Josh saw this and shot the zombie in the shoulder, making it stagger backwards, enough time for Helene to get away from it.

"Don't fall behind!" Ricky shouted and side kicked a few zombies from his way and placed a new assault rifle clip.

Being pissed off as he was Josh unsptrapped his Remington which was running low on shells, but he just fired one burst towards the zombies on the right to make them get back. He grunted and held his bleeding arm protected by the bandage and his jacket's sleeve.

"Josh! Come on!" Helene shouted, signalling with her arm.

Josh ran with the shotgun supported over his shoulder. Ricky had made it to the door and seemd to be holding a grenade. The two teens made it over to him. Ricky then grinned and tossed the grenade over to the aproaching band of zombies. The three then entered the hospital, right after closing the door, an explosion occured. Afterwards tumbling and splattering sounded from the zombies and their organs flying everywhere.

"Excellent work dude." Josh panted.

"Yea. Don't you just love seeing things blow up. I never did get to do this in the SEAL:s." Ricky replied.

"You were in SEAL:s! Badass." Josh laughed.

"At least some of us are having fun." Helene thought.

"Heh. Well enough fun stuff. Lets go find something to fix up my arm." Josh said. He strapped his Remington back on since it hurt to shoot with it.

The lobby of the hospital looked very eery. There were benches thrown around, blood was splattered around certain areas along with papers that had drenched in the red bodily liquids. There seemed to be no zombies in this room.

"I doubt zombies repsect hospital peace, but... where are they?" Helene wondered as she looked around. She came to some potted plant that was next to one of the benches. "Hey, I found a herb!" She informed.

"A herb? That house plant?" Josh asked looking at the plant Helene held.

"We were taught the herbs in Raccoon like this one have healing properties. We should take this along with us in case we're injured." Helene said. She pulled the green plant ount of the pot and tore its roots off, afterwards placing it into her pocket

"Um... isn't there the danger of that thing being infected?" Josh asked.

A sudden metallic banging noise almost scared the backs off of the survivors. The vent seal on the roof fell off and it was followed by some strange creature they had never seen before. It was some mass making a sickening squishing noise continuously. It seemd to stand on legs of some sort and its body was covered in something slimy.

"Shit!" Josh shot the thing on the top of its body, but it only staggered and something fell off its body. It was small and looked like a worm.

"A leech!" Helene was speechless.

"Grr!" Ricky furiously shot the monster with his Sigpro, but more leeches just continued dropping off and the monster itself didn't seem hurt.

The monster walked towards Josh and Helene like a zombie with its arms out stretched and its speed being slow. Josh and Helene were fearfully walking backwards away from the monster with Josh shooting at it a couple of time. The monster's arm suddenly shot out and took hold of Josh's right arm and pulled Josh towards it, but Helene grabbed Josh's injured arm and tried to keep Josh away from it. Josh shouted in pain from his left arm and he couldn't shoot since his gun was pointed away from the leech creature.

"Josh! Duck!"

Josh did what the voice told him and a shot rang out, making the leech creature release Josh. Ricky had saved Josh with his handgun. "Run! Get outta this room before that thing infects you!" Rikcy shouted.

"Alright! Over there!" Helene just noticed a door right next to her and Josh. "Josh come on!"

Josh fired a few more shots at the leech monster and then followed Helene through the door and the leech monster's arm hit the door instead of the teens. Ricky was now alone against the leech man.

"Come on fucker! You want blood? I got it right here." Ricky backed away with his gun pointed towards the monster. "See ya! Sucker!" Ricky ran through another door in the lobby and was out of sight from the leech man.

Josh and Helene were leaning onto the door behind them panting after that hurdle with the leech man. Josh's arm hurt even more now since he had been pulled from two sides. Helene could see the boy was in pain and had to find at least a first-aid spray from somewhere. They heard another door open and close. A man stepped in and suddenly pointed his gun at the teens.

"Don't shoot! We're human!" Helene shouted, bringing her hand out forward.

The man suddenly put his gun down.

"Oh. Sorry about that." The man replied.

This man had dark brown hair that looked pretty messy and had light stubble on his chin. He was dressed in a grayish blue uniform with the letters R.P.D written on it. This person just had to be a cop.

"You two can come in now." The man called towards the door he came from.

Two more people accompanied the police officer. The first one was an older man with brown hair dressed in an expensive looking suit and the other one was a woman with short blonde hair and was dressed in a red suit. Josh and Helene were surprised to run into more survivors.

"Well, at least we're not the only ones alive." Josh said feeling relieved.

"This isn't the half of us. The others are searching the other levels. You kids shouldn't have entered this hospital in the first place. There's zombies and that leech thing chasing us." The police officer said.

"Yea, we had a run in with the fucker just a minute ago. We just came here to fix up my arm." Josh replied, extended his left arm and pulled back his sleeve, showing the cop his bandaged arm with the fabric becoming redder.

"Were you bitten?" The man in the suit asked.

"No he was cut by glass in an accident we had while escaping in a cable car." Helene replied.

"I see. I can fix that up for you right now." The man replied generously.

"I'd aprecaite that mr..." Josh said.

"George Hamilton, I'm a doctor in this hospital."

"I'm Kevin Ryman from R.P.D." The cop said.

"And I'm Alyssa Ashcroft. I'm a reporter for the Raccoon Press." The woman said, standing in and arms crossed position.

"I'm Josh Ellington. Marine trainee. I got stuck in this town after my bus was knokced over." Josh said.

"I'm Helene Nayami. Student from Raccoon High." Helene bowed, being a Japanese custom.

"Yea, but could we get back to my arm. The pain's not doin' anything good." Josh said.

"Right. First I want you to swallow this hemostat. It'll slow down the bleeding and your wound will heal faster." George presented Josh with a small blue and white pill.

"Whatever you say sir." Josh took the pill and swallowed it. Since he didn't have water to drink, he felt how the dry pill slid down his throat and into his esophagus. Josh then showd his bleeding arm to the doctor.

"Okay, Kevin, give me that first aid spray you found." George said to the cop.

"Alright." Kevin pulled a small, white spray can out of his pants' pocket. "Here." He gave it to the doctor.

"Thanks." George took the can. "This may sting a bit Josh, so brace yourself." George then unrolled the bandage off Josh's arm, revealing a bleeding slash wound. He sprayed a greenish cold substance over the wound. This made Josh cringe and growl from the pain, but he stood still. Last, George took a bandage roll from his own pocket and tied it around the substance covered wound. "There you go. It shouldn't take too long to heal thanks to the spray's effects."

"Thank you very much. Now I can at least shoot with my shotgun at some point." Josh replied. "But now we have to find Ricky."

"Whose Ricky?" Kevin asked.

"An Umbrella mercenary who got us this far. He saved me from the leech thing and from many other creatures." Josh replied.

"Hey, wait a minute. You're saying you were helped by an Umbrella soldier?" Kevin asked surprised. "Don't you know it's all Umbrella's fault this whole mess began!"

"Yea, but he was sent here with a unit to get us out of here." Josh shot back more calmly.

"Kid, I really don't think you should trust an Umbrella worker to begin with. He could be lying for all we know." Kevin brought back.

"Officer, let me ask you one thing." Helene stepped into the argument. "If Ricky was lying, why would he risk his life to protect us from Nemesis? And why would he drag Josh out of a burning wreckage if he didn't care about anyone, but himself? Could you please answer to that?" Helene asked wth a slight scowl on her face.

"She has a point Kevin." Alyssa said. "Maybe we should help these kids find their friend."

"Since when have you been so soft Alyssa?" Kevin asked smirking only to get a humph as a response. "Thought so. Okay, we'll help you find this guy. But you better be careful with that leech thing following us. Can you shoot?"

"Ahem. Marine trainee." Josh jerked a thumb at himself.

"Oh right. What was I thinking?" Kevin sarcastically asked.

A loud clank got everyone's attentions immediately. The leech creature dropped down from the roof and was slowly advancing at the survivors.

"Shit! Run!" Kevin shouted.

Everyone split up and ran. Kevin, Josh and Alyssa ran up the stairs in the room towards the second floor while Helene and George ran out the door Josh and she had entered through. The leech creature followed the three survivors that went up the stairs since it's poor IQ didn't allow it to know how to open doors.

"Isn't there anything that can hurt the motherfucker!" Josh asked.

The survivors got onto the second floor. It was a well lit hallway with a matching white floors and walls. Of course, like any place in the doomed city, there was blood spileed here and there and a dripfeeder had been knocked over with a bag still on it that hadn't bursted out its liquid contents. Josh was running in front of the twomore older survivors. As he made it to an openig in the room, grayish hand reached out to him. Josh screamed as a female nurse zombie had taken hold of him and was pulling him towards.

"Let the kid go!" Kevin ran over with great agility and kicked the zombie with a powerful thrust kick, making the zombie stagger backwards. Kevin pointed his gun at the zombie and fired. With a sickening sound, the to of the zombie's head was decimated. Not wanting to look at that, Josh turned away and heard as the zombie fell motionless onto the floor.

"Thanks Kevin." Josh said.

"Any time." Kevin replied.

"If you two haven't noticed, Leech Man's still on our tail!" Alyssa pointed a the staircase.

Leech Man was still giving chase. It came faster now since it was sure what will be its next target. It could smell the blood coming from the youthful human's body.

"I think it's after the kid, it can sense his blood better since it's already been out of his system!" Kevin fired at Leech Man, but the monster only staggered back.

"What I wouln't wish for more than a Stinger at this point..." Josh added to the remark.

"Too bad, we ain't got one of them!" Kevin replied.

A sudden squish occured. The three survivors looked in the way of the sound and found a fresh puddle of blood on the floor... and a foot over it. A foot covered in a black sneaker and a jeans's leg. Looking up, the foot belonged to a short girl from an Asian descend. She had short, black hair, was dressed in a black t-shirt with a green jacket worn over it and had a backpack on her back and she was wielding a handgun.

"Yoko!" Kevin exclaimed.

"To the elevator, hurry!" Yoko was pushed back a bit by a burly built man of an African ancestry. He was dressed in a security guard's uniform what Josh could tell.

"Right! Come on!" Kevin pulled on Josh's right arm and everyone ran towards the elvator at the end of the hall. Leech Man on the other hand was not interested as it kneeled down besides the fresh blood on the floor and began sucking it up.

Alyssa was the one who pushed the buton on the elevator. It didn't take too long for it to arrive since it was on the first floor originally. Noticing that Leech Man had almost finished with its blood meal, they all hastily went into the elevator and pushed the button labeled with a one. The doors shut and the elevator began to descend.

-

Helene and George ran into the lobby with haste and slammed the door shut.

"Do you think the others will be okay?" Helene asked the doctor.

"I'm not sure. We can only hope since Leech Man is a desperate hunter..." Gerorge replied.

"Lets hope then. Now I've got too friends missing and you've got two as well." Helene added.

"More actually. David, Yoko, Mark, Jim and Cindy should be around here too." George replied.

"There's _that_ many of you guys?" Helene asked surprised.

"Yes. We have come quite a way come to think of it. I suppose the more there are, the more specialties we all have, the better we can survive." George explained, Helene listening intrigued.

"Ah. So lets look for them. Maybe we'll run into Josh and the others later." Helene said in a spirited kind of way.

"True. Lets see what's in there since we just had it unlocked before we ran into each other." George pointed at a double door close to the entrance.

"Ok." Helene replied and pulled her SOCOM to get better aim.

George wetn ahead being the responsible adult and all. He opened the door carefully and took a peek. Coast clear... Gerogre signaled Helene to follow and they went through the door. This looked like another waiting room with receptionists' desks ahead and had a nice loking statue on the side nenxt to a window... window... This particular window wasn't boardedup like most of the other ones so...

"George, I don't like the looks of that..." Helene whispred.

A crash occured and a zombified canine leaped into the hospital, not minding getting gross looking gashes into its hair and blood covered body. With an lamost lightning fast leap it jumped George and knocked him down. George was almost bitten but Helene delivered a kick at the canine to knck it of. George, still lying on the ground pointed his handgun at the dog and fired. Surprisingly this gun seemd to fire rapid fire and the dog's whoe face was nearly decmated. George was also taken aback by the gun's power. Helene helped the kind man up.

"So that's what Kevin meant about this thing packing a punch." George said, refering to the gun.

"Josh would love it. From what I've seen, he's a gun nut." Helene remarked.

"Kind of like Kevin, huh? If someone met them together, you'd think they're father and son." George smirked.

"I guess. So where to now?" Helene asked.

"Through there." George went over to a door at the right side corner of the room.

The two survivors went through the door...

-

Ricky fired three shots, downing a former doctor, now a zombie. He kept his Sigpro at hand in case something was going to give it an unwelcomed surprise. He tried to find anything he could use since he was really starting to think he should arm himself with something else since he had only three full clips for his assault rifle. He noticed a forgotten bag on the floor, containing red, murky liquid.

"Blood pack..." Ricky thought. He continued looking for anything useful, weapons, ammo or even an idea for an escape route. And find out where to find something to treat Josh's wound. He grunted from frustration as he had found nothing. His next option was to go into that elevator at the side. He went over to push the button, but the doors suddenly moved and he had his gun pointed at the door immediately. The doors opened to reveal...

"Josh?" Ricky said and lowered hi gun. "Looks like you found some friends."

Josh came out of the elevator, accompanied by a bunch of people.

"Ricky. You're okay." Josh said. "My arm's been taken care of, so one little thing to be worried about."

"Who're these guys?" Ricky asked, refering to the strangers who accompanied Josh.

"Survivors. Kevin, Alyssa, Mark and Yoko." Josh explained.

"Heh. More people alive than I thought." Ricky replied.

"Got that right. So... you're that Umbrella mercenary the kids have been talking about?" Kevin said.

"Uhuh. Private Ricky Wallace. At your service." Ricky saluted. As he did a vent fell down from the roof. "Oh shit..."

To be continued. The nigtmare is far from over...


	6. Chapter 6: Killer Leeches

Chapter 6: Killer leeches

Leech Man dropped onto the floor with a sickening splat. Ricky had turned towards the hideousleech covered monster with his Sigpro trained at it. He took quick steps backwards.

"Back inside, now!" Ricky shouted.

With that, all the survivors ran back inside the elevator with the woman named Yoko hastily slamming onto a button, the elevator doors began to close. Leech Man however was not the quitter type, so it lunged at the survivors. The robustly built man named Mark used the iron pipe he was wielding to push the monster back and the doors of the elevator finally closed and it began to descend. (And yes, they could all fit inside since the elevator seemed pretty capacious in Resident Evil 3.)

The elevator arrived in its destination, the B1 floor. The survivors, now consisting of a cop, a security guard, a student, a reporter, a militarist kid and an Umbrella mercenary stepped out, Ricky checking the coast is clear, his mission being the approval of the civilians' safety.

"So Ricky was it?" Kevin suddenly spoke.

"Yea, what's up cop?" Ricky asked.

"I wanna ask you something and it involves your employer." Kevin said, crossing his arms.

"You mean Umbrella huh?" Ricky asked, twirling his Sigpro with his front finger, not sensing Kevin's suspicion.

"Yea. What are you doing here exactly?" Kevin asked.

"We were sent here to rescue the civilians. So far I've found quite a bunch, you guys." Ricky replied. "Though escaping now might seem hard since getting through those zombies upstairs won't be a smart thing to do." Despite the situation, Ricky seemed calm.

"Just why would Umbrella send a military unit to save civilians in the first place?" Now was Alyssa's turn to ask.

Ricky looked at all the survivors, minus Josh and the short girl called Yoko. After studying their glances, he suddenly understood. Those were the glares of accusation.

"Hey! Whoa, whoa! I know what you're thinking. I know Umbrella caused this mess and I know I'm on their payroll. In truth my mission is to save as many civilians as possible. Also I'm not in full links with the company. I'm just a mercenary alright." Ricky explained, his expression getting more serious.

Kevin looked down at the floor for a couple of seconds. He looked back at the young mercenary. "Alright. But I'm watching you…" He said sounding slightly stern.

"Kevin, you can trust Ricky." Josh cut in. "Like me and Helene said, he saved us a couple of time. He's not a bad guy."

Kevin just glared at Ricky. Ricky did feel a bit bad about people not trusting him now. These survivors obviously knew it was Umbrella's fault why this happened, but he himself was not really involved with the company's affairs. Kevin took a step closer to Ricky and held out his hand. Kevin grinned slightly.

"I trust ya." He said casually.

Ricky nodded and shook hands with Kevin.

"Now since that's out of the way, we should go find Helene and George." Josh said.

"Alright. Ricky, you take Josh and Yoko back up to search for those two while the rest of us go look for the others." Kevin said, laying out the plan.

"There are more of you?" Ricky asked, sounding surprised. "Now this is just too good to be true."

"David, Cindy and Jim should be around the lower levels. Hopefully they managed to find a way out." Mark said. "And do be careful with the leech freak walking around."

"Don't worry. You're talking to an ex-SEAL." Ricky smirked with confidence.

"Any battle experience?" Mark asked.

"No. Just drills and all that. It got too boring so I quit." Ricky replied. "But I'm sure as heck good aren't I?"

Mark laughed slightly. "Don't get cocky junior. I was in the Vietnam war." Mark pointed himself with his thumb.

"My grandfather was there!" Josh said.

"Who was he?" Mark asked interested.

"Michael Ellington. I hear he was a sergeant, but he died in a napalm accident." Josh explained.

"How about we get a move on before Leech Man shows up again?" Alyssa asked impatiently, tapping her foot on the floor with her hands on her hips.

"Alright, alright. Geez!" Kevin said.

"Right, Josh… Yoko lets go." Ricky said.

"Right." Yoko replied.

Ricky, Josh and Yoko went into the elevator while Kevin, Mark and Alyssa headed down theB1 hall towards a door that stood next to some caged area with a dead nurse laying there with a puddle of blood formed underneath.

-

Back to the first level. George and Helene had entered a large office with the place being littered with papers, ammo cartridges and medical supplies. The vent's cover had fallen from the roof, meaning Leech Man had been there. As they moved forward they came to a large set of monitors with a dead nurse lying in front of them. She was dead and shot afterwards, meaning she had been a zombie. The two looked at the monitors next. One of them showed the doctor' office with a dead zombie lying there, then the entrance hall, the room where Helene and Josh met Kevin, Alyssa and George, the second and third floor hallways with nothing there, the bottom levels where they saw Kevin, Alyssa and a robust built man. Helene looked at the screen showing the doctors' office again and saw the elevator doors opening with Ricky and Josh stepping out with a girl along with them.

"I see they found Mark and Yoko." George said.

"Let's hurry back there!" Helene said and planned to walk back to the door where they had come in from.

Yet again a squishing noise sounded. Leech Man was back!

"Run!" George yelled.

Helene fired two shots from her SOCOM pistol to make Leech Man stagger back and give her and George more time to escape. George was by the door already, holding it open for Helene. Helene dashed out and George followed, slamming the door shut behind him.

"That was close…" George said, whipping sweat off his forehead. "Thanks to you Helene we made it out."

"I did what I have to. I just want us to get out of this place safe." Helene replied. "Now let's get to Josh, Ricky and… who was that again?"

"Yoko." George answered.

"Right." Helene said.

The two walked towards the doors that lead into the main hall. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side now…

-

Josh, Ricky and Yoko stepped out of the elevator. So far, Leech Man was gone.

"Alright, coast is clear so let's head out." Ricky said and walked in front of the other two younger survivors.

Josh walked slowly behind Ricky with his trusty nine millimeter USP tightly in his grasp while Yoko followed last, holding her nine millimeter Beretta with two hands, but it pointed towards the floor. They entered the main hall once again, no Leech Man in sight.

Josh scanned his surroundings for anything undead. Sure, the zombies had never laid a bite on him and he had fought off many of them. But for some reason he felt like trembling. He never did like showing any signs of weakness, but this was getting too horrifying…

Josh almost jumped to the sound of gunfire. It was coming from somewhere close…

"Over there!" Ricky shouted and ran for the double doors on the side.

Josh almost felt as if he didn't want to go there. He gritted his teeth and wanted to follow, but he just couldn't…

"Are you okay?" Asked Yoko.

Josh shook his head. "Yea. I'm okay. C'mon!"

Ricky bust through the double doors and pointed his Sigpro in. He almost gasped at the site. Josh and Yoko ran in too, but also gasped.

Leech Man had Helene and George cornered into the end of the hallway. George was hastily trying to insert more bullets into his burst handgun's clip, which was proving too slow and Helene had drawn her bow gun and just fired an iron-made arrow into Leech Man, but it only made the leech covered beast step backwards and thenit continued to approach the humans with its arms outstretched.

"Jesus!" Josh shouted. He took aim with the USP. He made the laser point at Leech Man's head and fired. Another leech fell off Leech Man onto the floor. Josh cursed as he took more shots in.

"Don't waste your ammo kid, it's not gonna work!" Ricky said. He shot Leech Man in the legs, but the leeches took the bullet again. Crippling this thing wasn't going to be easy either.

"I know how we can distract it!" Yoko exclaimed. "We need a blood pack!"

"Blood pack…" Rick thought back to the time he first entered the office after he, Josh and Helene escaped Leech Man. He remembered seeing a blood pack on the floor there… "Josh! Go to the office we came from!"

"What?" Josh shouted. "I'm not leaving anyone to die!"

"There's a blood pack on the floor over there! I saw it for sure! Hurry!" Ricky shouted. "Wait! Give me your shotgun!" Ricky shouted instantly.

"Why!" Josh shouted.

"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Ricky shouted as he watched George unload bursts of nine millimeter rounds into Leech Man.

"Okay…" Josh un-strapped his shotgun and tossed it to Ricky. "I'll be right back! Hold on!" Josh ran through the double doors.

"Helene! Catch!" Ricky held the shotgun like a spear with one arm and threw it over Leech Man.

Helene saw the shotgun flying at her. She caught it, but the weight of the firearm was enough to knock her on her rear.

"Are you alright?" George kneeled besides the Asian teen.

"Yea I'm… Look out!" Helene screamed pointing forward.

George gasped. Leech Man was almost on top of them. George yelled from frustration and made a leaping tackle on Leech Man. The Leech creature stumbled back, but George then yelled as he started ripping the leeches off of him. Helene saw her chance and fired with the shotgun, making Leech Man go back some more, but not enough to escape. Helene fired again the recoil pushing her back. Leech Man wasn't taken aback too much now and as a counter attack, it shot its arm out at Helene, grabbing her arm and began pulling her towards.

"Help! Guys, help me!" Helene screamed.

George grabbed hold of Helene's arm and tried to pull her back. Leech Man's grip was too strong and it was even starting to pull George towards it too.

Instantly Josh bust through the double doors of the lounge room with the blood pack and saw the two survivors were almost In Leech Man's full grasp.

"Helene! George!" he gasped. Josh slammed the bag of blood onto the floor and stomped on it, making the red liquid burst out.

Leech Man suddenly released Helene from its grasp and rushed to Josh's direction. Josh yelped and leaped out of the way. Leech Man kneeled besides the puddle of blood and began sucking it up.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Ricky yelled, swinging his arm to signal Helene and George to follow.

Instantly the whole crew bolted out and left Leech Man to enjoy what was left of its meal. Helene and George panted from the horrid experience, but were thankful they at least survived.

"Thanks guys. If you had come just a few minutes late we'd be leech food by now." George said gratefully.

"That's why I'm here." Ricky nodded. "Okay, let's go back down and find the rest of you guys." Ricky went ahead towards the door the office.

"And let's not stop for conversations. Leech Man can just pop out from the roof and we could be in trouble again." Yoko pointed out.

"Right. Onwards." Josh said.

The survivors made haste to the office so they would lessen the odds of Leech Man coming after them. Ricky was waiting in the office impatiently looking up at the roof.

"C'mon lets hurry." He said and went ahead into the doctors' station.

The doctors' station was clear. The same dead zombie doctor lied on the floor and the vent seal was on the floor thanks to Leech Man. Despite it not being dark in here, the place did somehow strike fear into the souls of the survivors. This place was once a place where good people treated the sick and injured, but thanks to Umbrella, it was now a place one step closer to hell. The survivors went to the elevator doors and Ricky pressed the elevator button and the metal doors opened. The survivors stepped inside and pushed the B1 button and the elevator began to descend.

Back in the first bottom floor, Kevin, Mark and Alyssa were scouting around a room found right outside the hospital's quarters. This room had some chemicals stored and there was a stream of sewer water a staircase lower. Alyssa was busy reading a diary found on a dead person lying there while Kevin and Mark were standing there, thinking what to do now…

"Where the hell are those guys?" Kevin wondered, looking down at the sewage stream below.

"I hope those guys didn't get in any trouble…" Mark said.

"By any chance did you think of checking the lower area guys?" Alyssa asked, looking up from the diary.

Kevin looked down back at the greenish brown water. Though he really didn't feel like staining himself in that stinky shit every city had below them, he should at least check this out.

"Alright. Be back in minute guys." Kevin nodded and walked down the green metal stairs.

After jogging downstairs, he took one more look at the water. His face winced slightly, but now was no the time to protest. He jumped down into the water that just reached above his knees. He jogged through the murky water until he came to a dead end very fast. In the side there was a small concrete platform with some rubbish and a hopefully dead man lying there. Kevin rose up on the platform and took a closer look. He was no way in hell going to search the man's body, that's for sure. He however managed to spot something shiny just at the end of the dead man's fingers. He reached out and grabbed it. As he moved it the object made a light jingle. It was some key in a thing metal ring.

"Hmm. Might come in useful." Kevin nodded and pocketed the key. He leapt back into the sewer water.

After the splash died down, he heard a low groan. The body lying on the concrete began to twitch and finally it moved its arms. Not wanting to waste his ammunition on just one zombie, Kevin took off running, the water making it slightly slower since the R.P.D cop didn't want to fall face first into the sewer water. He went back up the metal stairs where Alyssa and Mark were waiting.

"Didn't find them huh?" Mark asked.

"No." Kevin replied. "But I found this." Kevin presented the key he had found.

"Great. Now let's move it." Alyssa said.

Back to Josh and his group. The people stepped out of the elevator, Ricky still leading, being the responsible soldier who was supposed to make sure these people made it out alive. Josh found this place eerier than what it already was, and supposedly he thought so did the other survivors. Now he just wished Kevin had found the other people he was talking about… and hopefully an escape.

"K. Now we just have to find Kevin and the others." Ricky said. Walking onwards, a door in the side opened up. From reaction, Ricky pointed his Sigpro at the door.

Out stepped a young man with black hair tied to a short ponytail and wore a stained tan colored overalls with a pouch attached to its belt. After he took notice of Ricky pointing a gun at him, his instant reaction was lifting his hands up and saying:

"Don't shoot!" He said in a gruff voice.

"Oh. You're not a zombie." Ricky lowered his gun. "That's one more survivor."

"Three actually." The man said.

"Hey, it's David." George said upon noticing his fellow survivor.

"George, Yoko! And who are these guys?" The man now known as David asked, referring to Josh, Helene and Ricky.

"It's alright. We're cool." Ricky replied. "Private Ricky Wallace."

"David King." David replied. David turned towards the door. "You can come on."

Two more people came out. The first was a dark skinned man wearing a train conductor's uniform and a young blonde woman wearing a waitress' uniform.

"Hey, Jim and Cindy. So that leaves Kevin, Mark and Alyssa." Yoko said, seeing her friends.

"Hey, who are these guys?" The man called Jim asked.

"Ricky Wallace. I'm from U.B.C.S. Here to get you all out safely." Ricky replied.

"I'm Josh. Marine trainee, here to defend the living." Josh boasted, brandishing his USP with some pride.

"Helene Nayami, your common high school student." She bowed as Japanese tradition.

"Right. Anyway, we have to find the last three of us. We were able to obtain access to the lower level." David said, getting to the point immediately.

"I think they went in that direction behind you." Josh replied.

"Yea, the refuse dump. Let's hope they found something or we could be in a very tight spot. With all those zombies outside and no helicopter on the heliport…" George said.

Suddenly the door in the back opened and three familiar forms stepped in.

"It's Kevin and the rest." Cindy, the waitress said upon noticing them.

"Hey, looks like everyone's here." Kevin grinned.

The reunion was cut short as another vent's seal fell down from the roof. Leech Man fell on the floor in between Kevin, Mark and Alyssa and the rest of the survivors.

"Shit! Not again!" Ricky gasped.

"To the elevator! Hurry!" David yelled. He drew a handgun from his pocket and pointed it at Leech Man. He fired at the leech covered monster, only to make it stagger backwards.

"Don't you guys have any blood packs!" Yoko asked stepping backwards.

"Sorry, but no!" Cindy replied.

"Well that's just great!" Josh sarcastically remarked.

"You guys go on ahead! We've got this bitch!" Kevin assured, taking another shot at Leech Man.

"Okay! Don't die on us!" Ricky replied.

The survivors closer to the elevator rushed towards it and opened its doors. They all stepped inside and pressed a button that read: "B2". The elevator doors closed and the elevator began to descend into the lowest level of the Raccoon hospital. Kevin, Mark and Alyssa on the other hand went back to the disposal yard in hopes Leech Man will try getting at them in there and then simply run away from it and head for the elevator.

In the second bottom floor, the elevator's doors opened. It revealed another spooky, semi-dark hallway with that disgusting hospital stench. Josh had never liked it, but he had no choice. The survivors stepped out, Ricky in the lead and followed by David. They scanned the surroundings, nothing threatening in sight. The rest of the current survivors stepped out of the elevator.

"It's quiet… A bit too quiet…" Ricky said.

"Uh huh." David replied. He went ahead deeper into the hallway.

"Yo David! Wait up!" Jim said.

The survivors followed David, all except for Josh. He just stood there, looking at his feet. Wishing this would just be a nightmare he could simply wake up from. But it wasn't. He had to admit. This was for real. There really are zombies and monsters. Someone decided to play God and create these monstrosities that killed anyone they saw. This was something he would never have been ready for…

"Josh! Come on! We found a way out!" Helene called out from the distance.

Josh looked towards the Japanese girl. He just stood there for a few seconds until he took the next step. Suddenly another vent seal almost fell on top of him, hadn't he rolled to his right, almost hitting the wall.

"Josh!" Helene screamed, getting the other survivors' attentions.

"Oh shit!" Ricky gasped.

Leech Man had followed them there. It was after Josh, the blood from his wound that was still healing attracting it. Josh pressed himself onto the wall, too scared to make any moves. Leech Man was only a few feet away from him…

"No!" Helene screamed and took aim with her rifle. She died her best to aim at Leech Man's leg. After pulling the trigger, Leech Man fell on its knees.

"Run Josh! Get away from him!" Ricky shouted.

Josh in an instant was trying to head towards his fellow survivors, but Leech Man then took hold oh his leg. Screaming, Josh attempted to pull himself free. But this monster's grasp was too strong. If those leeches made contact with his blood stream, he was as good as dead and if he survived, he'd slowly become one of those zombies.

David ran ahead the other survivors, obviously to save the teen military fanatic. With a swift motion he pulled a lug wrench from his belt and threw it at Leech Man. The sheer impact of the large tool on Leech Man's body made it release Josh from its grasp. Josh then dashed to a door opposite of the elevator and went in.

"Great work dude, but now how are WE supposed to get him out with that in here?" Ricky asked David.

"I don't know! Now let's first get out of this room! I'm sure the kid can think of something!" David replied.

"But what if there's more vents in there!" Ricky asked.

"That room is more spacer than this hallway. He can circle around the monster. Trust me Ricky, I worked here." George assured the U.B.C.S troop.

"Well let's hope so! Otherwise I'm really gonna be pissed if something happens to him…" Ricky warned.

"Now let's get outta here!" Jim exclaimed and attempted to open the door, but it was locked... "Oh shit!

Leech Man didn't seem interested in the survivors. The scent of blood behind the door was attracting it. It reached out with its stretchy arms and took hold of the roof's vent's ledge and pulled itself up into the darkness of the hospital's ventilation system…

In the room opposite of the elevator, Josh was supporting himself against the door, breathing uncontrollably. He almost got infected by the virus… And now he was probably trapped. In a shadowy room filled with garbage and two dead people and there were many bottles containing all sorts of chemicals. This was just like forced into an A rank horror movie, and felt like he was one of those unfortunate people who died as horrible death. That always happened when the character was alone. Josh wasn't liking this at all, but now it was really getting to him. He placed his free hand onto his chest, feeling as his heart beat s hard it would leap out of his chest.

"Okay… calm down Josh… calm down…" He whispered to himself. "I'm okay, I'm not infected. There are good people probably trying to help me as I stand here… Yea… pull yourself together."

Now calm, Josh decided to search this surrounding, who knows what useful things he'd find. Not too willing to touch those bottles containing whatever kinds of poisons or bacteria. He however did spot something. For some reason someone had left one of those herbs he had seen upstairs on a cryogenic container. Remembering what Helene said about them, he took the potted plant and ripped the green plant out of the soil and placed it into his pocket.

"Wait…" He thought. "If this is a cryogenic container, than there could be…" He took hold of a handle on the container and pulled on it. It revealed a shelve with too blood packs lying in there. "Alright! Josh grabbed the two bags containing a human's bodily fluids. "Leech Man's in for a treat if he shows up." Josh smirked. He kneeled down and placed his backpack on the floor. He put one of the bags into a spacey pouch in the backpack to avoid it from bursting and kept one in his left hand while wielding his USP with the other.

He afterwards heard that familiar moaning sound. He instantly pointed his USP at the direction of the noise. One of those dead guys refused to stay dead. It got up slowly and clumsily until it stood up completely. The laser aiming module's dot was right between this bald, make that skinless from the head guy's eyes. A bang sounded and there was an instant hole in the zombie's face, making it fall back with a hideous splay as its head almost cracked open. Josh angrily wield his USP with smoke rising from the muzzle.

"Son of a bitch." He murmured.

Next thing to catch his eye was another white painted door. Since nothing could have been more movie clichéd like this place, he entered the next room. This room was the smallest he had seen in the hospital. It was first a really small space with some sort of computer module in front of him and then a door there was separating this small space from a larger space with selves containing more bottles of probably hazardous materials. He then decided to check out the control module in front of him. From what he could tell, those numbers on the small screen meant temperature… He just for a try pushed on a button and the temperature number began to go up all the way to 100 degrees…

"Hmm. That high, huh?" Josh thought. "That gives me and idea…"

Josh by guess pushed a button next to the one he had just pressed and like he guessed, the number went down.

He then heard the door behind him open. He instantly pointed his gun at the intruder…

"Hey! Whoa, Josh it's just me!" It was Kevin, holding his hands.

"Kevin?" Josh lowered his gun. "Well that took a while. How'd you find me anyway?"

"The rest of us are waiting in the hall." Kevin explained.

"Speaking of our little friend, I'm getting rid of him." Josh turned to the temperature control machine. "See this?"

Kevin looked down at the terminal. "What is it?" He asked interested.

"I guess it somehow raises the temperature in that room. I tried and it went as hot as a hundred degrees. And since I have this blood pack…" Josh presented the bag of blood.

"So you're planning on trapping it in there and turning up the heat?" Kevin asked to make the teenager's idea sink in.

"You got it." Josh nodded.

Kevin couldn't help but smirk from this. "Nice going Josh. I think it's about time we got rid of him."

"Yea. Now we just have to… dare I say it? Find him and get him in there and presto, problem solved." Josh said.

A sudden clank got the two humans' attentions. Leech Man's hideous, black and slimy form was making its way down.

"Go!" Kevin shouted and grabbed Josh by the collar.

He ran as fast as his legs would let him and he practically threw himself and Josh through the automatic door that lead into the temperature room. Josh got himself free from Kevin's grip and slammed the blood pack on the floor. He stomped it aggressively, making the blood burst from the plastic bag. Leech Man went completely insane as it almost ran into the temperature room. It kneeled down and begun sucking up the blood with a sickening slurp.

"Time to go now!" Kevin said and headed out of the temperature room with Josh.

"Sayonara Leech Man." Josh growled and pushed the button that made the heat in the temperature room go up. In a few seconds he hit one hundred degrees…

The door leading to the room was almost bust open. Ricky and Mark rushed in, both with their handguns drawn.

"Guys! Are you okay!" Mark asked.

"Aw man! Gross!" Josh said, sounding more than a tad disgusted.

"You said it." Kevin nodded slowly.

"What? What's…" Ricky looked into the temperature room and saw Leech Man slowly get up, but now there was smoke rising from its body. "You're frying it!" Ricky asked bewildered.

Leech Man tried to get to the door of the temperature room, but the heat was becoming too unbearable to it. The leeches on its body began falling off in masses until its whole form fell down and made a disgusting splatter. The body under those leeches was some human wearing only his pants and shoes. Now all four survivors were feeling really disgusted…

Josh turned down the temperature and that was it. Leech Man was finished for good.

"That takes care of that bugger." Josh sighed from relief. He felt someone's hand touch his shoulder. He looked up to see it was Kevin.

"You did good Josh." Kevin smiled. "You found out how this thing worked and got rid of Leech Man."

"He planned this!" Ricky asked. "Wow! Kid, I really gotta hand it to ya. Not only are you good at fighting, you're pretty bright too." He gave Josh a thumbs-up.

Then another person came into the room. It was Alyssa. "We have a problem here guys." She said, the tone of her voice easily saying this problem was bad.

"What is it?" Ricky asked.

"That door in the hallway is locked and it demands a level 2 key card. We only have key card level 1 and who knows where that thing is hidden." Alyssa explained.

"What!" Kevin gasped.

"God dammit!" Josh added.

"Wait, what's that?" Mark spotted something shiny in the temperature room, right next to what used to be Leech Man. "Let me check this out…" Mark went into the temperature room.

"What's up Mark?" Kevin asked, but got no answer.

They saw how Mark kneeled lower and picked up something from the floor. He came back out of the temperature room. "Guys, our card key problem has just been taken care of." Mark brandished a plastic card that had red text on it.

This instantly got the other survivors' hopes up.

"Yes! Now we can go one step closer to escaping!" Josh shouted with glee.

"Yea, that's true…" Ricky nodded. "But remember Josh." He looked at the kid with a slightly stern gaze. "We're still in Raccoon City. Zombies and who knows what other things are still out there. You have to be ready for them."

Josh looked at Ricky for a few seconds. He nodded to his friend's remark. "Right. We still have a battle to fight…"

The survivors headed out of the room to join up with the others.

Leech Man is taken care of, but this battle for survival is far from over. What other freaks of Umbrella will Josh and his new friends meet? Can they escape? The story goes on…

A/N: Whew. Finally got a chapter done and this is by far the longest. Don't worry though; I'm working on this story most for now, so expect more Resident Evil goodness real soon. Also this is the last chapter I'll be posting as a fifteen year old! I'm turning sixteen! Please enjoy and of course, review.


	7. Chapter 7: Sewer of dread

Chapter 7: Sewer of dread

"_I somehow expected to have my skills put to use at some point. But not like this… The though of fighting the undead was not something I'd have never even thought of. I just want out of here. And I will escape one way or the other…" _

Josh, along with Ricky and his new survivor friends Kevin, Mark and Alyssa headed out of the chemical storage room after finishing off the notorious Leech Man and obtaining a key card that could have easily been another tool in use of escaping the Raccoon hospital. Josh's sudden sense of fear had even subsided for the time being as he was proud for coming up with that simple idea to get rid of their leech covered cadaver friend.

Josh and the others entered the dark hallway of the second bottom floor of the hospital. The other survivors were waiting there since going back didn't seem like a good idea.

"We're back guys!" Kevin waved at the rest of the group, instantly getting their attentions.

"Josh!" Helene rushed over to Josh. "Are you okay? You weren't bitten of anything?" She asked with great concern, managing to surprise Josh.

"She digs him." Ricky whispered to Kevin, who couldn't help but grin.

"Really?" He asked. Ricky suddenly shushed at him.

"He just doesn't want anyone to know." Ricky added. "His toughness may be good on the outside, but I knew he had a soft spot." The mercenary sniggered almost uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Alyssa turned towards the two men.

"Nothing! Nothing at all." Kevin raised his arms in defense.

"What?" Mark also got curious.

"Like Kevin here said, it was nothing…" Ricky said hastily.

"Whatever. Let's just leave and talk trash later." Alyssa shrugged.

"Yea guys. Did you find anything that could get us in there?" David said, referring to the door behind him.

"As a matter of fact we did." Mark brandished the card key in his hand.

"Well what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Jim said hastily as always, making the newcomers get that Jim wasn't the bravest man in the place…

"Fine. I have to agree with Alyssa and Jim that we should get out of here as fast as possible." Kevin said nodding in mid-sentence.

"Good, the sooner the better." Cindy the waitress agreed.

Mark walked calmly over to the door, now since Leech Man couldn't come at them anymore. He swiped the card key through the reader, followed by a mechanical beep and the machine lit a green light. Afterwards a metallic sound came from the door, meaning it was unlocked.

"Great, now let's go." Josh said.

The survivors made their way through the door. This next room's atmosphere sent a horrible stench into the survivors' noses, making some of them let out a disgusted groan or wince slightly. This room was the smallest in the entire hospital and by far the dirtiest. There were discarded metal barrels placed next to the walls and other garbage was stashed there as well. There was a pathway filled with sewer water, like a river and chained to a ventilation pipe was a small wooden boat.

"That's our way out of here?" Alyssa asked in a tad disappointed tone.

"Looks like it." David replied.

"But there's no way we can fit everyone into that thing." Ricky added, seeing that the boat could hold about six people at most.

"I guess we'll just have to make two trips." Kevin said. "Okay, five people will accompany me and we'll see where this tunnel leads. After getting there, we'll comeget the rest of us."

"Sounds like a plan." Ricky nodded. "I'm definitely going in the first group. The ones who are better armed should go first and one well armed stays here to look after the rest."

"We'll do that then." Kevin agreed. "So that's me, Ricky, who else is well armed?" Kevin looked at the others.

"Me! I can go!" Josh raised his arm.

"No! The kids go in the second group." Kevin said sternly, but meaning well since as a police officer, he had the responsibility to ensure the safety of the survivors and kids always came first in protection.

"I'll go." Mark agreed and stepped out of the group.

"Count me in." David said and drew his shotgun he had strapped on his back.

"That makes four of us now. Who else?" Ricky looked at the rest of the group.

"I volunteer." Alyssa said, stepping out of the group.

"That's five." Kevin nodded. "Okay who else?" He looked at the now much smaller group. "How about you George?"

"No. I'll stay behind. I'm armed with just this burst handgun anyway. I'll look after the girls, Josh and Jim." The doctor replied.

"And I'm definitely not asking Jim…" Kevin thought. He finally sighed in admit of defeat. "Josh can come."

"What!" Ricky gasped.

"Alright! Thanks Kevin." Josh smirked, feeling useful for once.

"But… but I don't think it's a good idea to take Josh. He's just a kid." Ricky intervened.

"Hey, you saw how I handled Leech Man back there! I want to come too! I don't want to feel useless here." Josh said sternly, not liking the fact he was being treated like a kid yet again.

Ricky groaned from Josh's stubbornness. "Fine. But you watch our backs kid. Nothing more." Ricky said.

"Okay, whatever." Josh shrugged.

"Right, let's get going." Kevin said, unlocking the lock of the chain that kept the boat from drifting away.

Six of the 12 survivors got on the boat. Kevin started up the motor on the back of the boat and took hold of its controlling grip. He let the boat go slow at first until he finally turned it to go faster. The six survivors disappeared from the view of the others.

"Good luck!" Cindy shouted.

In a matter of seconds the humming of the motor died down.

"Well, there they go…" Jim said.

"Let's hope they all come back in one piece." Yoko said, raising her hand to her neck's level.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. They all have some battle experience, well not counting Alyssa." George assured, putting his hands behind his back.

"I hope they're not gone for too long." Helene said, sounding more unsure than anyone else.

Cindy placed a hand on the teenage girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry. They'll be back, I'm sure of it." She smiled kindly.

Helene looked into the direction of the boat. "…I hope you're right." She thought.

The boat hadn't gotten too far as the sewers still continued. The four men, woman and boy held on tight to stay on the boat since this speed could knock anyone of them off if they weren't careful.

Josh, who was sitting in the front, suddenly spotted something in the distance. Not sure what it was, he squinted his eyes to try and get a better view.

"What's that?" He wondered out loud.

"What is it?" David, sitting behind Josh asked.

"There's something right in front of us guys!" Josh turned to the others in the boat.

"He's right!" Alyssa said, squinting also to get a better view." It's plugging the waterway!" She shouted.

"Kevin! Slow down!" David said, still looking at the strange mass that was becoming clearer and clearer by second.

"We'll crash if I try to slow down now!" Kevin exclaimed. "Jump!"

Not having to tell twice, all the people on the boat got up and jumped into the murky, foul smelling water. The boat on the other hand was still speeding towards this strange mass, which vibrated from movement as if it were alive. The boat crashed and the motor got on fire.

"Nice plan Kevin." Alyssa said sarcastically. She wasn't too happy on having just knelt in sewer water. "Ugh! This stuff wreaks!" She murmured.

"Somehow I don't think this isn't that bad…" David said, looking at the burning mass blocking the waterway.

"What'd ya mean?" Ricky asked.

As if on cue, a large form burst out from the slime mass and water. This made all the survivors step backwards in fright. The new creature let out a gargled roar and it finally quit thrashing in the water. It was at least twenty-five feet long, had a slimy green body with a smaller extension in its front with more slime dripping out of it. It looked like an overgrown leech!

"Holy shit!" Josh shouted. "What the fuck is that thing?"

"Dunno and I'm certainly not going to find out!" Kevin replied, un-holstering his Colt. 45 automatic from his holster.

"I guess we have get rid of it to get forward." Mark said, trying to stay calm. He too was ready for battle with his handgun raised.

"Shut up and start shooting!" Alyssa shouted and already took a shot at the giant leech. The hot lead pierced the monstrous worm's slimy body and made it screech from pain. In return it hurled a large dose of slime from its mouth, barely missing David and Josh.

"Leave this son of a bitch to professional!" Ricky grunted as he un-strapped his M4A1. "This big bug's going bye-bye right now!" Ricky yelled and opened fire.

"Shut up and just fire!" Kevin yelled, also taking shots in.

The leech monster seemed to duck into the water to obviously attempt to avoid the shots, but the bullets just kept on coming. What the human's didn't notice, the leech sent a group of tentacles from its mouth underwater, the murky liquid making the impossible to see. Ricky's legs were grabbed and he was pulled under the dirty water.

"Ricky!" Josh gasped.

The angered and now completely wet mercenary grumbled as he arose from the dirty sewer water, spitting in case any got into his mouth.

"God damn fucker!" Ricky growled and continued firing.

Josh and David had now joined in with their shotguns drawn. Josh could see from the corners of his eyes that David's was more different from his Remington, but now was not the time. They had a big leech to get rid of. Josh fired a burst from his shotgun and pumped it, getting ready to aim again. This time the leech monster thrashed wildly and seemed to almost like hop at Josh and David, almost crushing them under its slimy mass. The survivors turned and ran farther from the leech. When in a better range, they began shooting again. Kevin was suddenly pulled off his feet too, but he didn't get completely drenched in the sewer water like Ricky.

"Dammit! Why won't it die?" Mark yelled over the ear piercing bangs from their firearms.

"Because it's who knows how much larger than a regular leech!" Alyssa asked sarcastically, now having to reload her nine millimeter handgun.

"Got that right!" Josh shouted, now using his USP since his shotgun was starting to run low on shells.

"But we can't waste all our ammo on this! We'll need this in case something like Nemesis shows up!" Ricky growled, placing a fresh clip into his assault rifle.

"Hey! What are those?" David wondered looking at the roof of the sewers.

"What are you looking at!" Josh shouted.

David stayed quiet for a few seconds. The leech suddenly hurled more slime right at him. David wouldn't have been able to dodge in time. The young plumber felt something pull on his left arm and was out of the way of the leech's attack. He looked to his left to see Josh looking at him.

"What's wrong with you!" Josh shouted. "You almost go hit!"

David didn't reply to this, instead he yelled: "Shoot at that valve!" David pointed at a red valve equipped metal casing on the roof, right above the giant leech.

The others looked up hastily to spot what David meant. Kevin didn't waste any time in taking aim at the object and fired, getting a clean hit. The component burst with steam shooting at the leech. The massive invertebrate didn't like this steam shower at all as it screeched and inched backwards slightly. Ricky on the other hand was growling ever tired of this.

"Go farther away!" The Umbrella mercenary demanded.

"What! What are you up to?" Kevin asked.

"Grenade!" Ricky shouted.

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped firing and ran as far away as possible from the leech. Ricky tossed the oval shaped explosive at their assailant and also took off running after his fellow survivors. In just about three seconds the explosive detonated with a sound of slime splashing. Everyone looked back at the giant leech. Some of its body from the front had been torn off in the explosion and the water around it was getting a more brownish shade of color from the blood flowing out of its body. The survivors could breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Nice going Ricky." Mark complimented the young mercenary.

"Well…" Ricky panted. "Like I always say. All in a day's work." He managed to grin, but his smile disappeared instantly, remembering they're still in the battle field with Umbrella's creations.

"Lost our ride, so we better go get the others." Kevin admitted, looking back where they came from.

"I guess you're right. This waterway could go who knows how far and we can't let them wait too long." Mark nodded.

The six of the twelve survivors began to walk back to their starting point, the water not making it too easy since it was flowing their way. They all however managed. Now without the giant leech, the place felt quieter than before. The only source of sound was the flow of the sewer water and some sloshing from the movement of the survivors' steps. This quietness however did little to ease their nerves. There could be anything hiding in the darkness of the sewer, ready to strike at the humans and make short work of them. This was a feeling Josh really hated. He felt so little compared to those monsters, no matter how much heat he was packing. It had been almost a whole day when he entered the city limits and had no idea how long he'd be stuck here…

The six survivors eventually began to see their starting point, the lighting becoming slightly brighter. Kevin was first to step into the other survivor's sight.

"Back so soon?" George asked.

"Where's the boat?" Jim asked.

"Broken into a hundred little bits." Mark replied coming into view.

"We got attacked by a fucking giant leech." Josh said, sounding slightly bewildered.

"Giant leech?" Helene asked, sounding that her fear took a small leap upwards.

"But it won't be bothering us. I blew the pile of slime into a bloody smudge." Ricky said, not sounding fazed almost at all, probably from his optimism.

"So now we have to walk through the sewers guys." Kevin added.

Some of the survivor's not standing in the sewer water got a slightly irritated look in their eyes. George didn't like it any better, but he just stood there as calmly as he could. Jim sighed, Cindy looked disgusted, Yoko was looking slightly depressed as always and Helene looked bewildered to a certain degree.

"I know, but we have no other alternative." Kevin said at the people not wet yet. "We'll find a way out of here and get back on the surface."

"But there are more of those zombies up there." Jim said with a very negative tone, jerking his thumb upwards.

"You think they're any better than overgrown maggots?" Kevin asked.

"I'm with Kevin on this one. Let's go." George said, jumping into the waterway.

"God dammit…" Jim groaned and followed.

"Let's get moving girls." Kevin said to the remaining female survivors.

Helene was first of the three females to jump into the water, followed shortly by Yoko. Cindy wasn't feeling too good about this whole idea, but getting out of the city was sounding much more inviting by second. She carefully descended into the waterway.

"Alright. Come on." Kevin took the lead with everyone else following.

The survivors of the viral infested Raccoon City moved forward, deeper into the waterway keeping an eye out for anything monstrous. Everyone had that wet, miserable feeling with the sewer water reaching just up to their knees and the quietness made the place scarier than usual. They walked past the dead body of the giant leech and shortly had to cross over the still burning mass the leech had come out of. Josh and Helene went first, followed by the women and the male adult survivors came last. No one had said a word for the entire time…

"How far do you think this sewer goes on?" Josh asked, breaking the silence.

"Dunno. What's the rush? At least there aren't any zombies or monsters in sight." Kevin replied.

"I know, but this place makes me feel strangely uneasy…" Josh said back. Josh was still holding onto his Remington shotgun, probably because of this dreaded feeling.

"You got that right." Jim nodded.

The humans came to a left turn and proceeded forward. The waterway seemed to stretch pretty far since they couldn't see too far thanks to the too dim lighting.

"Well, so far so good. No leech related things in sight." Mark said.

"Good." Alyssa replied. "I've had enough of those things for one day."

"By the way guys. You have that funny feeling?" Jim asked no one in particular.

"What feeling?" Kevin asked.

"The feeling we're being watched or somethin'." Jim answered.

"I'd rather not think about it…" Ricky said.

The survivors continued on, the waterway still seeming there was no way out. The stroll continued for some time, no one making a sound, except the sloshing sound each step in the water made. Afterwards they finally came to a new surrounding. The sewer had split into three tunnels, one going the way they were originally going and the other two went left and right.

"Looks like we'll have to make a choice." Mark said.

"Yea. But what way would be the best and safest choice?" Ricky looked at the right side tunnel.

"The sewers could take us anywhere in the city, probably even to a place we were at." David finally spoke without someone having to ask him anything.

"Yea and I certainly don't wanna go back to J's bar." Jim nodded.

"So, what do we do now?" Alyssa asked.

"Well we could…" Kevin brought his hand up to his chin.

As soon as everyone started pondering, a rumble came out of nowhere. It was also difficult to track where it was coming from. Now almost anyone brave had his or her gun drawn and the more timid we anxiously scanning for threats.

"W-what was that?" Helene asked, her voice sounding shivery.

"No idea…" David replied, taking notice of the girl's question. David slowly turned his head right and…

"Huh?" Alyssa was looking at David, a feeling of dread seeping in. "David, you're not saying that…"

Alyssa never got to finish as the wall close to David and Helene was smashed down. David pulled Helene to safety from the rocks and rubble flying everywhere. The next freak turned up…

"Good lord…" Josh said dryly, his pupils shrinking.

Standing in the direction where the humans were originally headed was a large or make that huge crocodile. It was at least twenty meters long and blocked the path. It let out a fearsome roar while thrashing its head wildly.

"Aw crap!" Kevin cussed "… R-run! Run like you've never run before!" Kevin yelled the loudest his voice could muster.

All the survivors took off running, choosing the left turn. The crocodile gave chase by running sluggishly, making the ground shake from its tremendous bulk. The survivors tried and tried to keep up their pace, as the thought of ending up as that monstrosity's next meal was not going to be good at all. For an oversized reptile, the thing was able to stay on the survivor's tails.

"Can't we do something to shake that thing off our tail!" Josh shouted.

"Don't shout kid! Just run!" Ricky yelled back.

"We're so dead if that thing catches up to us!" Alyssa yelled almost frantically.

"Just run dammit!" David yelled.

"Hey Ricky…" Kevin looked slightly at the Umbrella mercenary and back to looking at his front. "Why not throw another grenade at it!"

"Well, I may not like wasting them… okay!" Ricky replied and tore a grenade off his utility belt, having three more left at the moment. He pulled the pin out with his teeth and threw the grenade by swinging his arms backwards.

The explosive fell into the murky sewer water and nothing happened for the first few seconds. In an instant an explosion followed and a pained roar came from the crocodile and heard its heavy footsteps go slower than before, probably from staggering.

"Don't look back! Go, go, go!" Mark yelled.

The survivors did just that. They just continued running as fast as they could with the feeling of fatigue seeping into them all. They weren't sure did the crocodile start giving chase again or had it given up, seeing as this monster felt pain, unlike the zombies. They ran about another two minutes until Cindy, Yoko, Jim and Helene had had it. They were just about ready to slump on their knees. Jim just stood with his arms pressed against his knees for support and panted quickly. David had to support Yoko from falling into the sewage by holding her from around her chest. Cindy was supporting herself onto Kevin, her legs also hurting from he high heeled shoes, which were not meant to run with. Helene had nearly collapsed, but Ricky had pulled her by her shoulders so she'd stay on her feet. Josh was also feeling more exhausted compared to the older male survivors and was supporting himself against the wall of the waterway. George wasn't feeling too good either, so he used his left arm to support him while his head hung as he panted. Everyone had been tired out after running from the reptilian monstrosity, but the ones in better shape managed to keep their footing and just panted. Even Mark, despite his age was able to stand up normally, but his legs were bent a little and his hand was on his chest.

"Aw man…" Jim panted "…What shit… that was…"

"I- I swear I've… n-never run… that much…" Cindy panted heavily.

"Don't blame you." Kevin replied, exhausted, but was able to speak normally. "I'm almost bushed."

"How… come you're… not bushed… Josh?" Helene asked, looking at the teen supporting himself against the wall, with one hand on his chest and the other still holding onto the USP.

"Does it look like… I'm not?" Josh asked.

"You feeling okay?" David asked Yoko.

"I-I guess." Yoko replied, still being supported by the plumber.

"Thanks for…whew… driving the monster away Ricky." George said, now standing almost back straight again.

"Just doing my job." Ricky replied. "Feeling okay Helene?" Ricky asked the Japanese girl.

"Yes… I'm okay." Helene was let go from Ricky's support and stood up straight.

"So, everyone feeling good to go?" Kevin asked.

Everyone promptly replied with a short 'yea' or nod.

"Let's go." The R.P.D officer said and led his fellow survivors forward.

The rest of the stroll in the sewers didn't go too bad. No giant monsters popping up instantly from somewhere. The foul stench however was still a nuisance to the sense of smell and afterwards it would take a while to forget it.

"Look's like we're getting outta here." Kevin said upon reaching a dead end, but attached to the wall was a rusty looking ladder, which led upwards.

"Finally. I've had enough of the smell of sewage for one day." Ricky said. He walked ahead and took hold of the ladder. "I'll go check it out. Just wait a sec."

"Let's hope you bring back good news." Mark replied.

"I hope so too…" Ricky said with a slight hint of optimism in his voice. He then put his left leg on one of the lower bars of the ladder and began climbing.

The other survivors just stood where they were, watching the brave mercenary climb upwards, hopefully finding a zombie-free alley or something similar. They didn't have to wait long as in about two minutes Ricky came back down, but he didn't come all the way.

"It looks safe. Come on up." Ricky said, signaling with his arm to follow.

"Okay. Women and children first." Kevin said.

"Alright. I'll go first." Josh volunteered and walked up to the ladder and started climbing along with Ricky.

"Helene, you next." Kevin looked towards the Japanese teen girl.

"Alright." Helene nodded and followed her two companions who were waiting above.

Helene was followed by Yoko, then Cindy, then Alyssa and last came the men, Kevin coming last. Daylight greeted the survivors, but with the distant moaning from nearby made day as eerie as night. The sky wasn't its usual blue color, but fogged by dark clouds, almost as if a horrible curse had befallen Raccoon City, which was true sort of with the virus infecting the innocent civilians and their dogs and turning them into walking corpse, craving for the flesh of the living.

The survivors stood in an alley with a grey building to the left and a red brick building to their right with a large green dumpster on the side and several knocked down trash cans and a bunch of bullet cartridges littered the concrete ground, meaning someone must have been here until he was killed by something… The very back of the alley had been barricaded with benches and some metallic refuse.

"So now what?" George asked.

"No use going back down, so we'll head onwards." Kevin said, turning to the non-barricaded side of the alley which seemed to be coming to a turn.

"Right. And everyone be on their guard, there could be zombies very close by." Ricky said, referring to the endless groans in the distance.

The survivors continued on. Kevin, Mark and Ricky in the lead, David and George behind them and the rest taking the rear. They made the turn leading left, now heading straight to a street obviously out of the alley. A gate was placed between the two buildings the alley was in, with net fencing holding it up.

"Shit…" Kevin hissed, seeing what was up ahead.

The street itself was crawling with zombies. Not completely covered in them, but there certainly were hundreds of them. All the firepower the survivors had combined wouldn't even take out half of those things.

"We're trapped. Shit." Josh cussed.

"Don't tell me we have to go back?" Ricky asked.

"Hmm… well…" Kevin thought, still eyeing the zombies roaming the street.

A sudden sound of glass breaking got the survivor's attentions. They all turned to see a zombie crawling from a window right above their heads. The ones standing below the window scurried away from it and watched the hideous, rotting cadaver crawl out and land on the ground with a thump. It slowly got up and stretched out its hands, going for its nearest target: David.

"Watch out!" Josh suddenly aimed his USP and fired, making a hole into the zombies cranium and making it topple on the ground.

"Dammit kid! Now look!" Ricky looked towards the many zombies on the street. They had sensed the survivors and were slowly approaching them.

"Shit!" Josh shouted.

Just to make things worse, another zombie crawled out of the window, followed by yet another. The survivors were going to get surrounded…

"Run!" Ricky yelled, as he un-strapped his assault rifle. "Josh, David! Follow me!"

Josh and David understood what Ricky meant. Both took their shotguns. Ricky bust the gate open and ran towards the zombies, opening fire at the undead. Josh and David followed, eliminating any cadaver that came too close. All the survivors now ran for their lives. The street really had a lot of zombies in it, but it still had a lot of opening on it, making it somewhat easy for the survivors to maneuver around them while Ricky and a few other more heavily armed survivors kept the closest zombies at bay.

"Where to?" Alyssa yelled. "If we stay here we're dead!"

Jim was able to notice a subway staircase's fencing in the distance. "Quick! In there!" He shouted, pointing at the fencing.

The survivors stopped firing and ran as fast as they could, dodging zombies and a few times getting a too close look at their faces. Kevin, Ricky, Alyssa, George and Mark were already heading down the stairs into the subway while the rest were still running. Josh was interrupted by a sudden high pitched scream…

"Helene!" He looked back and gasped.

A zombie had grabbed Helene by her left arm and was trying to take a bite with its yellow teeth. Helene kept roughing and roughing, but the zombie wouldn't let go. Josh grabbed his crowbar from his belt and rushed towards the zombie and with a mighty swing, broke one of the zombie's arms. Helene answered by griping her still caught arm with her SOCOM wielding left hand and forced her arm out of the zombie's grasp. As the two teenagers were about to follow their friends, a zombie was right in front of them, lunging. The teens screamed until someone threw the zombie onto the ground with tremendous force. It was David.

"C'mon! Hurry!" The plumber grabbed Helene by her wrist and pulled her towards the subway staircase with Josh following with equal haste.

The rest of the survivors got into the staircase. Into darkness…

-

Author: Another chapter done, and it's a long one again. I'm happy my story's starting to get some attention. I thank all of them who think my work is enjoyable to read. Until next time, see ya! And please leave comments or maybe some hints on how you think this wouldbecome even better.


	8. Chapter 8: Underbelly

Chapter 8: Underbelly

Josh, Helene and David ran and ran as fast as they could into the darkness of the subway. The groans of the zombies still audible to their ears. Not being sure if they were following them, they didn't want to slow down, no matter how much their feet ached. Josh had been stuck in Raccoon City for a whole day now, and every hour was becoming more and more unbearable. First zombies, then a giant super zombie with a rocket launcher, a corpse controlled by leeches, a giant mutant leech to an enormous crocodile which would only exist in ones imagination. Was there no end to this hell?

A double door came into view with dim lighting shining from within them. The two teens and the young plumber made their way through. What they weren't ready for was Josh bumping right into Mark, knocking the old war veteran, now security guard on his rear.

"Gosh. Sorry Mark." Josh said, looking down at the security guard with an apologetic look.

Mark grunted, rubbing his rear and lower back. "It's okay. At least it was you and not a zombie." Mark smirked wincing a little.

Josh extended his hand, Mark taking a hold of it so Josh could help him stand up. The others were there as well. Kevin and George were busy lifting a bench on the small platform that separated the entrance stairs from the ones heading lower into the subway.

"Here, I'll help you with that." Josh went over to the two adults.

"Thanks, but we can handle it." Kevin nodded.

The bench was moved in front of the entrance doors of the subway. Mark then placed his bent iron pipe between the doors' handles for a good measure.

"That should keep them out." Kevin said, looking at their small makeshift barricade.

"But now we're trapped down here." Helene said. "What now?"

"I guess all we can do is head down…" Kevin replied.

"But who knows how many of those things got down here before us." Josh reminded, his grip on his USP tight as always.

"It can't be as bad as above ground… can it?" Helene asked.

"Not sure." David replied, still staying cool and answering straight to the point.

"Hey guys." Jim spoke up. "How about we hitch a ride on a train? It could get us somewhere safe at least."

Everyone looked at the young African American. Kevin and his other survivor buddies felt surprised that Jim actually thought of an idea.

"I mean it won't be that hard. I worked here an' all." Jim shrugged.

Kevin walked up to Jim and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lead the way Jim." He smiled.

Jim nodded. "K. This way c'mon." Jim descended down the continuing staircase.

"Incredible." Alyssa said with a sarcastic tone mixed into her voice. "The coward for once is doing something useful."

"I heard that." Jim spoke from ahead.

"Alyssa, not that it really concerns me…" Ricky spoke to the reporter. "But why must you be such a tight ass all the time?"

Alyssa stayed quiet. Ricky was getting a feeling that he didn't much like Alyssa, despite being a pretty nice looking female individual.

"Well, if you're too good to answer then…"

"It's none of your business Ricky." Alyssa looked at the young mercenary, looking pissed and serious as usual and walked faster.

"Taking a fancy to her?" Josh asked, feeling it was time for payback.

"Not on your life kid." Ricky replied. "Those bitchy types aren't my kind of women."

"Aw. You're just saying it." Josh smirked.

"But a certain Japanese girl suits you." Ricky shot back, making Josh fume again.

"I don't like Helene!" Josh retorted whispering loudly in hopes Helene wouldn't hear him.

Helene was more than able to hear what Josh whispered, as well as some of the other survivors, but the rest shrugged it off. Helene on the other hand was lost in her world of thoughts yet again. But she didn't have much time since the staircase ended shortly. They had entered a dimly lit room with a yellowish brown floor and white walls and roof. In the side was revealed a pair or booths where the ticket salesmen had worked. Much like many other places, it was trashed with garbage of all sorts on the floor and even specs of dried blood were on the floor and even a bloody handprint was on it.

"Where to Jim?" Mark asked, glancing at his fellow survivor.

"Through there guys." Jim gestured to the entrance gates of the subway. However, there was someone already there. A figure standing slumped down.

"A zombie!" Josh pointed.

A sudden shot rang out, hitting the dead person on the neck. This made the zombie turn towards where the shot was fired. This zombie had once been a businesswoman from the looks of the torn up business jacket and knee long skirt. She gurgled while lazily stepping towards the survivors. The person responsible for the shot was Alyssa, wielding her Beretta M92S handgun. Alyssa then fired again, hitting the zombie in the chin, making a small chunk fall off.

"For crap's sakes. Like this." Ricky took aim with his own handgun and fired, the bullet piercing a hole into the zombie's forehead and making her slump on the floor motionless.

"I could have handled it myself, thank you very much." Alyssa hissed and walked ahead through the open gate of the subway. Ricky could only grumble from annoyance while following Alyssa.

Now the survivors seemed to have three choices to go. The lobby they just entered had a grayish door to the right corner. In the left and right sides of the room were two staircases, obviously leading down to where the trains were. Two support beams were placed in the middle of the room and a few payphones were set behind the staircases' railings.

"I guess we should split up." Kevin said.

"Right. You decide the parties." Ricky nodded.

Kevin turned towards the whole group of survivors. Some eyes were pointed either at him and some gazes went towards the staircases. It was probably in case any viral monster decided to show its rotting, ugly face.

"We'll do it like this." Kevin spoke. "Me, Jim, Mark and George will head through that door. While the rest of you scout out the rest of this place. Try to find any clues or more weaponry if you can." Kevin explained.

"Roger that." Ricky nodded.

"Good luck guys." Josh said.

"Thanks Josh. Okay, let's move it." Kevin signaled towards the door.

The others watched as Kevin's group headed for the door. Kevin pulled on the door, but it didn't seem to open, just budge, judging from a faint banging. Jim stepped up and appeared to be taking something from his pocket and did something with the door. It must have been the key since Jim said he worked in this place. The door was opened and the group continued on.

"Let's check down here." Ricky suggested, eyeing the staircase leading down.

"I don't know Ricky…" Helene replied. "It looks dark down there…"

Helene did have a point. There seemed to be no lighting down there, they could all get picked out by zombies or other monsters down there without any chance of assistance.

"But we can't just stay here. We should at least peek to see if there are any trains to begin with." Ricky replied to Helene.

"I agree. We need a train to make our escape." David replied. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going in."

"Me too." Josh said. "You can wait for us if you want."

"But I don't want to be alone." Helene replied, sounding scared and she even took a few glances around her.

"Don't worry." Cindy spoke up. "I'll stay here if you want." She smiled warmly.

"I'll stay too." Yoko informed.

"That's okay." Ricky replied. "Alyssa, ya coming?"

"Yes." Alyssa promptly replied.

"Okay then. You three just hold the fort and yell if you're in danger." Ricky said. "C'mon."

Ricky, Josh, David and Alyssa went down the staircase, while Cindy, Helene and Yoko stayed in the lobby. The four admitted mentally of the staircase leading to darkness, but what awaited made the situation feel less uncomfortable. The bottom floor wasn't that dark at all, just slightly dim. The place had white tile walls and a plain concrete floor with a black roof with those long lamps on the roof, some going on and off from malfunction. The middle of the room was wide with the train tracks connected to two dark tunnels to the left and right. There was one stationary train just about twenty meters on the side of the dock where the Raccoon survivors stood.

"Finding a ride didn't take long." Josh admitted.

"But does it still work?" David asked Josh.

"How should I know?" Josh asked back.

"That's just it. We gotta check it out first." David replied and walked on ahead towards the train.

"Hey you guys go on ahead." Ricky said. "We'll check out the rest of this place." He turned to Alyssa. "That is if you're not interested."

Alyssa grumbled. "Fine I'll check it out. Just get off my back." She glared at the mercenary.

"Take it easy! I'm not hitting on you." Ricky was taken aback. What'd he do in the first place?

"Better not." Alyssa walked off ahead of Ricky to the opposite direction from the train David and Josh were heading to.

"Wait up!" Ricky jogged, catching up with Alyssa.

David and Josh strode over to the train. It had only one car linked to it and was about the size of a bus, colored red from roof to window and orange from below. The door on the front car was left open. Just as David was about to enter the train, he and Josh heard a gunshot, followed by another and one more. They looked into the direction where Ricky and Alyssa had gone and saw Ricky, from what they could tell from the distance, pointing towards the ground. He must have downed a zombie.

"Why am I worried? He can take care of himself and Alyssa." Josh told himself.

Josh entered the train, looking around. The train seemed clean form the inside. It was a bright grey color with seats on the sides, just like any other train in the world. David had walked in deeper, looking cautious and scanning around for threats. Josh only glanced around the train. No blood, no noise, no zombies…

"It's clean." Josh thought. "Hey, David! Now what'll we do?" He called out to the plumber.

"Go see how Ricky and Alyssa are doing." David replied, walking back from the end of the train car. He pushed Josh slightly to get out of the car. Josh seriously didn't know what to think of that guy. He had saved him and Helene from the zombies on the surface, but he was always quiet and even pushed people.

"Guess that's none of my business…" Josh thought. "Wait up."

-

Ricky and Alyssa had wandered into the tunnel of the subway, where their getaway train would head into. So far so good the only threat was a few zombies that had aimlessly wandered down there. Ricky had shot both down with two or three shots. In his opinion Alyssa would have wasted five bullets at least. The tunnel was dark of course, with dim lights screwed into the roof and pipe lines were placed to the sides. From what the two could tell, there was a cut wire that sparkled from moist. However, after stepping forward a few feet, Ricky's foot made a squishing noise. He lifted his foot and saw that he had stepped on some sort of brownish orange substance on the floor.

"What the…?" Ricky knelt down to get a closer look.

"Oh my God…" Alyssa said, looking forward. This made Ricky look up too.

The entire tunnel was almost blocked off by the strange substance. It was hanging from the roof in huge masses piling up on the tracks. The substance was shining at some points, probably meaning it was fresh from whatever made this. Ricky walked closer to the barricade of substance until he spotted something buried in the substance. Ricky knelt down… It was a human…

"Holy shit…" He whispered wide-eyed.

A man had been bind and buried in the substance with an agonizing scream coming from his expression and his arm sticking up with his handgun still at grasp. His body had turned pale and seemed dry, as if he was either dried up like in a desert or as if his fluids had been drained out. This was starting to remind Ricky and probably Alyssa about those alien movies with monsters from outer space snatching people and sticking them into their slimy substance to eat them later. They prayed that this wasn't the work of something like that. For a final respect, Ricky took out the man's pistol's clip and poured the bullets into one of his pockets on his uniform.

"Let's get outta here." Ricky said.

"Lose your nerve?" Alyssa asked, grinning.

"Not on your life." Ricky blurted embarrassed. He never did like to show weakness. Especially to people like that who smirked at something he claims he'd never do, like be afraid. He hated showing his soft side. But facing the facts, he was scared. Who wouldn't be? They were fighting against zombies and other monsters that were not supposed to exist. Except in sci-fi horror movies.

"Whatever. It's not my business. Just like mine isn't yours." Alyssa replied and turned back, walking away.

Ricky grumbled from Alyssa's remark and shortly followed her. He suddenly heard something, like a bleat. He instantly turned towards the blocked off tunnel with his handgun pointed forward. He scanned his dim surroundings. Nothing in sight and no noises. He slowly lowered his gun and dubiously turned back, wondering was he imagining or was there something there, hiding in the darkness. He couldn't help but shudder and leave.

"This is just plain crazy…" He groaned.

David and Josh were looking for their two friends who had gone their own ways. They had descended onto the train tracks, looking around for Ricky and Alyssa.

"Alyssa!" David called out with his gruff voice.

"Ricky!" Josh called out too.

"Yo! Over here!" Ricky answered.

Josh and David spotted Ricky and Alyssa jogging to their direction from a tunnel that was opposite from the direction of the train. In less than a minute the two reached Josh and David.

"Did you find anything?" Josh asked.

"Just a tunnel full of goop." Ricky replied.

"Goop?" Josh wondered.

"Dunno what it was, but I don't seriously want to find out." Ricky replied, not wanting to tell anymore fascinating stories about dried up dead people and weird noises. "I don't think it's strong enough to stop a speeding locomotive though, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Shouldn't we go get the others now?" Alyssa asked.

"Right. I'll go." Josh volunteered and walked off.

Josh climbed up from the train tracks and began heading for the stairs. He went up the rocky stairs with some decent lighting greeting him, which made him have to squint his eyes slightly, but they got used to it immediately. The girls were still there, Yoko standing in a corner just in front of the staircase Josh came from, Helene leaning onto the railing of the staircase and Cindy paced back and forth. Josh fully came out of the staircase so that the three females easily noticed him.

"So?" Cindy stepped forth. "Any luck?"

"We got ourselves a ride." Josh replied.

"Thank goodness." Cindy sighed with slight glee.

"So we can get out of here?" Helene asked, standing back straight and picking her backpack off the floor.

"If Jim can get it to work…" Josh stated. "Which he surely will."

"You surely put faith into others." Josh heard Yoko saying from the side.

Josh shrugged from Yoko's remark. "I just wanna keep hoping on escaping instead of being eaten." He said, getting some uneasy glances from the girls. "… Sorry." He mentally kicked himself for doing that.

"It's okay. It's better to have hope than nothing." Cindy grinned sheepishly. "By the way we heard gun shots and…"

"Ricky downed a couple of zombies. Nothing serious." Josh assured "Anyway, we better go down and wait for Kevin and the others." He continued and signaled everyone to follow him. He went ahead down the stairs and was greeted by the more dim lighting. Ricky, David and Alyssa waited with Ricky just looking down at the train tracks, Alyssa standing farther from him and David leaning next to the wall arms crossed.

"We're back." Josh spoke up, getting glances from all three people.

"Any idea what's taking Kevin and the rest?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm not sure. They may be doing it right as we speak or are having some sort of trouble…" Cindy said, sounding slightly worried.

"We should check it out." David replied and stood up.

"I'll come with ya David, just in case." Ricky informed. The mercenary turned to Josh and the girls. "You stay here and do not wander off." He said sternly, especially to the tunnel."

"Alright, I'll stay for once." Josh replied.

"Good." Ricky nodded in appreciation. "Okay, let's get going." Ricky told David, who then went up ahead. "We'll be back in just a minute, so just sit tight." Ricky said and followed David.

After Ricky and David left, Josh, Helene, Cindy, Alyssa and Yoko took refuge in the train car with Josh sitting by a seat opposite its door as a lookout with his USP handgun at hand and his Remington shotgun lying next to him. So far, everything was quiet. He leaned his head onto the wall of the train and gazed at the tube lights on the roof, still miraculously in working order he might add and sunk into his world of thoughts. Was this for real? Will he escape? Will everyone survive? Is this really the work of Umbrella? Hell, some products made by Umbrella were used in his house, even those first-aid sprays were a high demand in the Marine Corps where his dad worked. He cussed himself for not recharging his cell phone when he had the chance so he could call his dad so that he could send a helicopter to pick him and everyone up and maybe even search for more civilians still alive and hiding. But if Ricky's whole unit was wiped out easily, could the Marines do any better? If he and everyone were to escape, what next? Surely Umbrella just can't be allowed to get away with this.

"Maybe we should find some clues to blow this thing wide open." Josh thought. "How could a pharmaceuticals do this is beyond me, but surely we have to find out the reason for all this…"

Good plan, but the question was how? They'd need evidence that this was true. Sure Ricky's knowledge about Umbrella and this incident, but they also needed things like files on Umbrella or maybe even a sample of this virus they created. This was not going to be easy…

Another thing Josh felt was tiredness. He had been in Raccoon for at least a day by now and hadn't slept, but he had to stay awake, if he fell asleep and were to be attacked by a creature coming into the train, he'd be dead. The thought of seeing those creatures coming at him just made him tighten the grip on his handgun. He heard soft footsteps coming from inside the train towards him. His eyes turned towards the noise to see it was Helene. She sat down next to Josh.

"You look tired." She said.

"So do you." Josh shot back, chuckling. "We've both been running around non-stop and when resting, it really shows."

"I guess." Helene replied, letting out a slight giggle. This actually surprised both of them, being the first time Helene giggled during this skirmish with undead creatures.

"At least you laughed a little. If you wanna survive, you gotta think you will. Dad told me my grandfather said that when in battle. He was a real hero…" Josh explained. "In fact this belt I'm wearing used to belong to him." Josh looked down at the incredibly old belt strapped around his waist, spanning back from the 1940s during the war.

"Just how many war veterans are in your family?" Helene asked out of curiosity, plus with the conversation taking her mind off the screams of her dying brother and the zombie's moans.

"Dad's told me we come from a long line of soldiers, but nothing else. He wanted to follow his father's footsteps and he wanted me to follow his, so he began teaching and training me how to survive. Seven years of training and learning made me into what you see right now." Josh explained.

"At least you'll have a family to return to when we escape…" Helene said, looking down on the floor.

"I'm so sorry for all of this." Josh replied mutually.

"It's alright Josh. I'm just not sure what to do next. I feel so helpless with my family dead, I have only a little money and I have to live somewhere, but how can I of all people settle in? I'm timid, I'm shy. I just don't know." Helene said dispirited.

"Hey, just move into Lush Acres." Josh spoke, sounding assuring. "We can get you a place to stay and I'll help you settle in and we can be friends. Of course I warn you not to get too close to Raul."

"I guess." Helene replied. She stayed quiet looking at Josh from the sides of her eyes. She finally spoke: "Hey Josh?"

"Yea?" Josh asked, stretching his arms forward.

"Do you like me?" Helene asked, making Josh almost jump from his seat.

"W-what in the world gave you that idea!" He stuttered surprised.

"Before we came down here I heard you whispering to Ricky saying you don't like me, but I just got this feeling that…" Helene explained.

"Hey, whoa! Time out!" Josh halted Helene's sentence. "I do admit you look hot and all, but I've only known you for a day. There's no way I'd suddenly have feelings for you like that. Sure maybe a crush is possible, but that's not the point." Josh explained.

"Oh, okay." Helene nodded.

Josh and Helene suddenly heard a rumble. Josh rushed out of the train to hear the rumbling get louder and louder.

"What' going on?" Cindy asked. She, Yoko, Alyssa and Helene came out of the train as well.

Her question was answered immediately. A train came speeding out of the tunnel on a track on the other side of the whole room. It came at full speed and all of a sudden crashed into something in the next tunnel. It exploded and after the blast died down, smoke begun to arise from its burning remains and since this was underground, if the smoke can't get out, they could suffocate down here. Josh immediately took hold of the situation.

"Everyone! Get outta here now!" Josh shouted, instantly getting the girls to run for the staircase with him following. He instantly heard a screeching noise coming from the train and looked back.

"Holy…" He could gasp.

Standing on the train was a new creature. It looked just like a flea, a flea about the size of a medium-sized table that is. Before Josh got to point his shotgun towards it, the new monster leaped towards him…


	9. Chapter 9: Underbelly part 2

Chapter 9: Underbelly part 2

As Josh was lifting his shotgun to fire at this new monster that had snuck up onto the train he and the girls were in. The surprise guest jumped right towards him. When the flea-like monster was ready to take impact onto Josh's smaller form, the teen jumped back to avoid getting smashed by the monster's weight. Josh almost managed to start making a break for it, but the flea grabbed him by his legs and despite them being a bit thinner compared to Josh's legs, it had some strength in them no human did and Josh tripped, thrusting his hands forward to avoid getting slammed in the face. The flea on the other hand begun to crawl onto Josh's whole body.

"Hey! Get off of him!" Alyssa shouted towards the flea. She began to rush at the oversized insect while fumbling for something from her suit's pocket.

"Ugly bitch aren't ya!" Josh said at the creature's hideous face. Like any flea, it had six tiny eyes and a long spike on the tip to suck blood with. His forehead drenching in cold sweat, Josh attempted to reach for his USP he had holstered onto his belt, but that's when Alyssa produced a stun gun from her pocket and stabbed the flea with it, letting out a sudden burst of sparks and a loud bursting buzz.

The flea jumped off Josh and seemed to crouch down on its front legs like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. Not willing to take any shit from the flea, Josh grabbed his dropped shotgun and fired at the things head, making the flea stagger backwards covering its face.

"Damn! It withstood a shot like that!" Josh was dumbfounded. The flea had withstood a headshot from a shotgun, which wasn't a normal sight to see. Normally a blast like that would decimate a head instantly.

"Shut up and kill it!" Alyssa was aiming at the flea with her handgun and fired a few shots, hitting the giant insect in its abdomen, but it only angered it. The flea kicked down its back legs and went into a rolling for and began wheeling towards Alyssa. The sudden change of attack made Alyssa not be able to dodge in time and she would surely get trampled.

"Look out!" Josh rushed and used all the weight in his body to knock Alyssa out of the flea's rolling path. In the process the two fell hard on the pavement, but surely it was better than dying. Josh rolled off of Alyssa and got up, slowly not the sprain anything. "Sorry, but I had to."

Alyssa got up into a kneeling position and in a bit slower pace stood up straight and dusted herself off. "No problem. Thanks Josh." Alyssa replied.

The flea on the other hand got back on its feet and started hopping towards Josh and Alyssa again. Josh was almost ready to blast the hellish insect's brains to pieces when all of a sudden a shot rang out and the flea fell on the ground, still alive, but hurt. Without a thought Josh rushed at the flea and nearly stuck the muzzle of the shotgun onto its face and fired, the insects blood splattering around its head with chunks of chitin and other intestines along with it. Though having his gut wrenching from the sight of so much gore, Josh cloud only take a few quick steps back and pump his shotgun.

"Nice going Helene." Cindy spoke up, having her eyes in Helene's direction.

Helene had whipped out her rifle and had fired at the flea to hopefully distract it. Her plan had worked accordingly and Josh had finished it off.

"Helene?" Josh sounded amazed. He strolled over to Helene, Cindy and Yoko with Helene still wielding her nine millimeter Steyr AUG rifle. "You did that!"

"Well…" Helene tried to reply, but her shyness seemed to get the best of her again.

"She did." Cindy replied for Helene. "Scared but still so willing to help." Cindy sounded really buoyant towards Helene. But why not? Helene just helped Josh take out a new monster that could have just killed him and Alyssa right there in the spot.

"Sweet job." Josh smirked. Josh for one did feel proud of his new shy friend, though he had earlier doubted Helene since she always seemed so timid, depressed and even doubtful a little too much. However deep inside Josh had a doubt that she won't probably be doing that a lot. She was always in the side and those monsters and the thoughts of them only scared her more. Nevertheless, saying that out loud would be too mean even for Josh, so he had to look as impressed as possible. "Keep that up and maybe you'll be as good as me one day."

"I really doubt that. I'm terrible at this. I just couldn't think of anything else than drawing out this rifle." Helene replied.

Josh instantly started coughing deeply. They were so into victory they forgot about the smoke coming from the burning train wreckage that had slammed into something in the tunnel it was heading to. Everyone was coughing dryly and who knows how much of those deadly gasses they had breathed in. They had to get out fast before they suffocate.

"Stay low and go up the stairs!" Cindy shouted crouching lower.

All five began to go upwards away from the deadly smoke, Alyssa and Cindy in the lead with Yoko going up a little slower while supporting herself on the stairs' railing, desperately trying not to breathe. Josh slapped his hand on his mouth and attempted not to inhale either, pressing his lips tighter since his gloves could have who knows what on them and didn't like the idea of catching whatever sort of infection the damned city was capable of giving. Helene managed to go upwards a few steps, but she continued coughing roughly. The smoke was making her throat feel dry and her lungs began to feel stuffy. The lack of oxygen and the surrounding smoke made her eyes tear and sting. Finally she lost her footing and took hold of the railing, coughing more and more, her throat hurting even worse. She almost yelped if she had the energy as a hand slapped over her mouth and its frontal finger and thumb gripped her nostrils shut.

"C'mon! Keep moving!" Josh shouted, coughing himself, getting that pain in his neck too, but he still, no matter how woozy and ill he felt at the moment, he tried to hold his breath. He began to push Helene slowly forward, but he was not sure will they escape without being severely intoxicated by the fumes.

A delicate hand reached out towards him and Helene, the smoke making it hard to tell who the person was. By pure instinct Josh took hold of the hand and he was assisted by a weak pull. In a matter of seconds his vision became clearer. Josh now looked up to see him gripping Cindy's hand tightly, and by looking up at the young waitress's face, he cheeks were bulging a bit, indicating she was holding her breath, but she had the chance to inhale fresher air. Cindy and Josh soon got Helene out from the staircase, so Josh released his grip on her nose and removed his hand from her mouth. Helene inhaled deeply, but immediately coughed and fell on her knees, her hands gripping her throat as she coughed and hacked some more. Judging by the speed of her breaths, she was panicking.

"Helene!" Cindy kneeled in front of Helene and took hold of her shoulders. "Helene! Helene, look at me!" She raised her voice slightly, trying desperately to make Helene stop panicking. Helene only continued coughing and wheezing uncontrollably, Josh, Alyssa and Yoko looking at her worriedly. Giving up on coaxing, Cindy took a light hold from both sides of Helene's head and forced her to look at her right in the eyes. "Listen, Helene. You have to clam down." Cindy spoke, in a slightly quieter tone, desperate to clam down Helene so she wouldn't suffocate. "Take deep breaths, okay. Deep breaths." Cindy said.

Helene struggled, but she managed to get a first deep breath, but she coughed yet again. She still tried and took another deep breath and then another. She was soon breathing normally. Her head still throbbed and she had to rest her head on Cindy's shoulder. Helene couldn't help but snivel, she swore she almost thought that she'd die. She sniveled even harder and Cindy tried to console her by patting her back. "It's alright, you're fine Helene. Relax…" Cindy spoke with a soft, assuring tone.

Josh, Alyssa and Yoko felt really pained from the sight of Helene crying, scared out of her wits for who knows how badly. They all could have died and Helene had to be closest to that. She didn't deserve that, none of them deserved this, running for your life in constant danger from those monstrosities Umbrella had created, but for goodness sakes why! Just thinking of Umbrella made Josh's blood boil from anger. If he ever got his hands on the person whose fault this is, he swore he'd fill him with so much lead no one would know he was a human. The door in the corner opened up, everyone looking up to see Ricky and David, now accompanied by George.

"What the fuck just happened here!" Ricky partly exclaimed, thankful everyone seemed somewhat okay. "What's wrong with her?" He asked, referring to Helene who was still sniveling in Cindy's arms.

"Poor girl almost died of suffocation." Alyssa replied solemnly. "A god damn train came from nowhere and crashed into something blocking the tunnels and got on fire. Then a giant flea just had to show up and make it hard for us since…" Alyssa cleared most of the recent happenings, but Ricky interrupted her.

"Wait? A giant flea?" He asked, raising his arm up.

"Yea." Josh assured. "I killed the freak, but then the smoke was getting so thick we had to make a run for it and Helene almost fainted."

"Hmm…" Ricky crossed his arms in thought, his forehead rippling. "Could that gunk be from that flea?"

"Pardon me," George spoke up. "But by what did you mean by this 'gunk', Ricky? In my opinion we should know of this." The doctor asked, a hint of stern in his speech.

Ricky looked at George and replied. "Me and Alyssa came across this mass of substance in the subway tunnel down below. I didn't wanna know what kind of thing made it, but from what I'd guess, it must have been big." He instantly turned to Alyssa. "Ya think that flea was responsible for it?"

"Highly doubtful, it was only the size of a small dinner table if being accurate." Alyssa replied.

"So that means there's more of them…" David suspected, glancing at the staircase opposite the door he just came in from.

"W-wait, ya mean there could be who knows how many of those things down there?" Josh's eyes widened.

David could only nod as a reply. "Yea." The young plumber said, dead serious.

"Shit…" Josh hissed, feeling his heart beating faster than ever. "My shotgun's running low on shells too and it took two shots to kill it."

"I'd loan you some but I'm low too." David added.

"Well that's just great." Alyssa sarcastically remarked. "Hey Ricky, how many clips you have for that rifle of yours?" She asked.

"Two full ones at the moment and about six bullets left in my current." Ricky replied. "I've got fairly enough handgun ammo but I doubt its good enough against something big."

"Helene has that bow gun in her backpack." Josh brought up. "But I'm not sure how many arrows are left for that thing."

"She used up about four arrows when fighting Leech Man back at the hospital if I remember correctly." George replied.

"So that means she has around twenty-five left." Josh counted, adding in that Helene told him about shooting at a monster in the R.P.D building. "Maybe she could let us use it for a while."

"You can." Helene spoke out of the blue, now standing with her eyes red from around thanks to her tears.

"Hey, finally snapped out of it I see." Josh said, smiling slightly to make Helene feel at least a little bit better.

Helene said nothing. She took off her backpack and knelt down, opening the big biggest pouch's zipper and taking out the small crossbow in one hand and a mass of bolts with the other. Josh took the weapons and nodded as thanks.

"Okay, let's go find Kevin and the rest." Josh said walking towards the door in the right corner, but when Ricky's hand grabbed him by the shoulder, he was forced to stop.

"You're not going anywhere kid." Ricky said sternly. "How many times do I have to tell you that you are not to go where there's danger?" Ricky sounded as if talking to a little kid in Josh's ears.

"But Ricky, I wanna help!" Josh looked disappointedly at his 'friend', who just glared disappointedly at Josh.

"This isn't a game Josh. I'm not letting you go where you could get killed. Remember, those zombies are not the only things crawling around out there and if you get bitten, there's no turning back." Ricky explained with his stern tone still present. "Just give me the bow and arrows and we'll go check it out."

Josh frowned from disappointment, but reluctantly agreed and handed Ricky the bow gun and iron-made bolts. Ricky then with one fluid motion of his arm, slid the assault rifle off his shoulder and handed it to Josh. "Take good care of this while we're gone." Ricky said, dead serious about his assault rifle. "And please try to conserve the ammunition, sure six isn't much, but you'll never know how handy it could turn out to be."

"Yea, yea. I'll look after it." Josh nodded.

"Good." Ricky nodded in approval. "Let's go." Ricky said to David and George.

Josh and the girls watched as the three men headed for the same door. Josh suddenly remembered something that he possessed that could be useful now that everyone was aware of giant fleas. He knelt down and flung the backpack off his back and opened the more emptier pocket on it and produced the blood pack he found from the hospital. "Hey Ricky! Catch!"

Ricky turned to see a red bag flying at him. He caught it and looked at it, now noticing it was a blood pack. "What's this for?" Ricky asked.

George on the other hand instantly made out Josh's idea of giving them the blood pack. "If there really are giant fleas here, then this could be of some use. If it worked on leeches it could just as well work on fleas, they drink blood too you know." George indicated.

"Oh yea. Forgot about that." Ricky nodded. He looked at Josh and said: "Thanks kid. Lucky you still had this." Having said that, he, David and George continued through the door.

"Good luck you guys." Josh thought.

-

Ricky, David and George stepped through the door into a narrow hallway that would desperately need some redecorating. The floor and walls were painted in a creamy brown color, but the floor itself had become humid with dirt and other small refuse decorating it. The walls didn't look any better with the paint job scaling off here and there and a few pieces of graffiti were painted on it, mostly that messy writing no one could possibly understand. The place smelled a bit of mildew, but that of course was the least of their problem, for they earlier had found a zombie, already taken out of its misery up ahead. Ricky continued gripping the bow gun he had just obtained and had the arrows strapped onto his utility belt, while David was armed with a Beretta pistol and George was armed with an M93R burst handgun.

"So… where should we look?" David asked.

"I'm not too keen on splitting up if there are any of those flea things here." Ricky replied as he looked on forward. "Let's just move on and get everyone back here. And let's pray they get that train down there moving."

"But if there's a fire down below we'll only endanger ourselves." George added. "You think there's a sprinkler system?"

"…They do." David replied. "You hear of that accident last month that occurred down here?" He asked George.

"I suppose I did." George thought back to reading about it in the paper about a fire caused by a short circuiting in the brake's power supply. Apparently no one was harmed that day, but the subway was closed for about a week after the incident.

"I was here when it occurred." David explained, briefly as always. "The sprinklers down there activated, but why not now?"

"Maybe the system's broken." George thought.

"Could be, either the smoke detectors are busted big time or there's a big leak somewhere." Ricky added.

"Hopefully it is a leak. I could fix it." David said. "If I had enough tape that is…" David searched through his tool kit strapped onto his belt and took out a roll of vinyl tape, but judging by the roll's mass, he was running low.

"I seriously don't like where this is going…" Ricky sighed. "You think they have anything similar here?"

"The only way to find out is to search." George replied.

"True. Okay, let's go look for Kevin and the rest and solve the tape problem afterwards." Ricky said.

The three men proceeded on, walking cautiously so they could spot perpetrators more easily. As they moved onwards they passed a small rusty trashcan and a grayish metal door came afterwards. A few steps farther came a left turn and even more farther the hallway led towards another door with what seemed to be lockers close to it placed next to the wall and before that came another turn that led right. Even for such a small place, there were so many places to search, but there was danger lurking somewhere in this place…

"George." Ricky turned to the doctor.

"Yes?" George asked.

"When you were with Kevin's group, did you search any of the rooms here?" Ricky asked, turning his eyes to look towards the hallway.

"Yes. We searched the two bathrooms over there." George nodded towards the left turn in the hallway. "We found a document with a code we needed in that locker room that comes right after that turn and obtained a key we needed to access the lower levels and found nothing else but a handgun clip. Right when we were about to descend you and David had showed up." George explained.

Of course Ricky and David knew the rest. They heard the crash downstairs and rushed back with George accompanying them in case Josh or the girls required medical attention, which was thankfully not necessary. So now they had to proceed downstairs. But still there was one thing that bothered David.

"What made the train crash and how'd it get here?" David asked, getting his turn.

"I'm not sure. But the crash seemed to have come shortly afterwards we activated the train tracks' electric output." George said while crossing his arms and looking down on the floor.

"So, the train must have stopped right inside the tunnel when this hell began." David concluded.

"That's possibly the only explanation." Ricky agreed, but suddenly something caught his ear, a mix of clicking and chirping sound.

David turned his head from looking at George towards the way they came from and found the cause of the noise. From out of the vent crawled out probably the second biggest bug he had seen in his life. It was grayish in coloration with a fat abdomen and six stringy legs coming from beneath its slightly smaller thorax. It was a flea! But unlike the one Alyssa mentioning of being the size of a table, this one was about the size of a full grown cat!

"George, behind you!" David exclaimed pointing at the new monstrosity.

George quickly turned and laid eyes on what David warned him about. He gasped from surprise and stepped back. The flea, having sensed movement turned and began hopping with leaps that could go over the men's heads. It turned towards George and headed right at him. George was quick to react and fired with his handgun, now having it set to semi-auto mode. The first bullet missed, hitting the stone floor. The flea got even closer, with George taking another shot, the force knocking the flea off its feet and it began to rapidly kick its feet to get up. Ricky took use of this situation and aimed with his bow gun. Though not sure his shot would be accurate, he fired and one of the iron bolts that whizzed through the air and decapitated the flea by its thorax. It began to twitch and kick like mad for a few seconds until it chirped and stopped.

"My God…" George sighed. "There really were fleas."

"But Alyssa said they were supposed to be bigger than that." David said, looking down at the decapitated flea.

"Maybe its juvenile." Ricky mentioned.

"Could be…" George agreed, but he wasn't able to finish when he heard a grunt from David.

Ricky and George turned to their companion to see the young plumber flailing his hands madly towards his back and stepping uncontrollably. "Damn it!" He cussed, his back turning to let George and Ricky see another smaller flea clinging to David's back. "Get it off!" David shouted, turning and flailing his arms like crazy.

"Stay still!" Ricky shouted, taking out a really sharp looking combat knife from his combat vest. "I'll get the little bitch off!"

David slowed down, but the flea began to move again and this made David start flailing madly again. David didn't even need to be told that if he stopped the flea could sink its sucker into him, which would surely carry the T-virus into him. If he could just get it off of him for a second and smash it. David suddenly felt someone gripping him from the shoulder with great pressure. He could hear something from his back, like something getting pierced.

"Off his back bitch!" Ricky grunted.

David felt the flea's clutches beginning to loosen as if it was begin torn off and it finally came off of him. He turned his head down right to spot his assailant lying on the floor with blood forming into a puddle under it. He turned so that his eyes saw Ricky holding a combat knife with an obscene amount of blood coating the blade.

"No need to thank me." Ricky smirked taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood off his knife.

"Thanks anyway." David nodded. "By the way, nice knife."

"I got it from a friend as a gift while in SEALs." Ricky explained.

He remembered clearly when his old friend Roland McIver gave him his knife for his birthday, shortly before leaving the SEALs. Ricky had an ambition to go into battle and come back a hero when he joined the military, but that was never to happen. He got the training; he was accepted into the Alpha zero team, but then nothing would ever happen. He just had to go to headquarters, continue training, talking trash with his soldier buddies and going out for drinks. The only missions he ever had were just damn drills like rescuing dummies and all that crap. That wasn't enough for him. He just wanted to be a hero, unlike his old man. He was a good for nothing drinker who kept getting arrested for causing trouble in town and Ricky's mother had to keep bailing him out, only to get beat up as thanks. His father made his and his mother's lives miserable, only throwing tantrums at them and if either said something back or sobbed, it just got worse. Finally when Ricky was 17, his mother finally got the guts to file for divorce, but his father didn't allow it, instead they fought yet again. Ricky hated how his childhood with his parents went and it took an even nastier turn when his father did the most barbaric thing in the world. He killed his own wife, beat her up so badly and finally stomped her to death. Ricky swore he'd never been so terrified in his life. His dad surely would have killed him too, hadn't their neighbor heard the commotion and called the cops. His father was arrested and Ricky himself was put under the care of his uncle. From that day on Ricky swore he'd become a person who'd protect and not kill innocents, so that was his reason for joining the U.S Navy SEALs. But after two years he quit and not long afterwards he was drafted by Umbrella to serve in the U.B.C.S when needed, but boy did it turn out worse than he hoped. He worked for a company responsible for the death of so many innocents and now he was running from his employers' own creations. But what could he do? He had no job and this was his only profession he was good at: fighting.

Ricky could only mentally kick himself as he placed his knife back into its sheath. Why didn't he just run away from being drafted when he still had the chance? But, no matter how much he wished he hadn't said yes, he was stuck here and had to carry out his intended duties of rescuing as many civilians as possible and evacuate them any way possible. However, going back to the clock tower evacuation was not going to work since they were too far in the center of Raccoon City. They had to find another way.

"You okay?" George asked.

Ricky instantly snapped out from his thoughts. George and David were staring it him with confused expressions.

"It's nothing. Forget about it." Ricky shrugged. "C'mon let's…" He heard the door slam and he looked up.

Josh stood there with his shotgun in hand.

"Josh? Didn't I tell you to stay there!" Ricky asked frustrated all of a sudden.

"We heard shooting and yelling, so I came to check it out." Josh hastily replied. "Are you guys ok…" Josh's vision fell on the decapitated cat-sized flea on the floor with its fluids forming a puddle under it. "What the hell!"

"Yea, a few oversized bugs were our problem." Ricky replied. "Now get back to the lobby and _stay_ there!" Ricky demanded, raising his voice.

"I didn't say I was coming with you." Josh replied frowning.

"I bet you were trying to kid. These bugs are one good reason for you to stay there." Ricky shot back. "And just to be safe, keep your eyes on the vents. That's where these things came from."

"Okay." Josh nodded and turned to open the door.

"And Josh." David spoke. "Keep your crowbar at the ready. They could latch onto you before you realize it."

"Alright, thanks for the warning." Josh stepped back into the lobby. After slamming the door shut. He strapped his shotgun around his chest and un-holstered his crowbar and USP handgun.

"So George, where were you guys heading before the train crash?" Ricky asked.

"To the lower levels, where supposedly we can restore all the power to this place. Jim mentioned the main generator being downstairs, but I don't know anything else since I left with you two." George explained.

"So where can we get downstairs?" Ricky asked.

"See that left turn there?" George pointed towards a turn in the left turning hallway with a few steps farther being a right turn.

"Yea, so that's it?" Ricky asked. "Did you check the right turn?" Ricky pointed at the right turn.

"Yes, the breaker room's in there. That's where we activated the track's power." George replied.

"Okay, so we just head downstairs and hopefully we can reactivate the sprinkler system in the platform and also reactivate the power to this place." Ricky said, trying to sink all this in.

"And by doing that the train will get us outta here with no problems?" David asked.

"I hope so." George replied.

"Well let's move then." Ricky said and headed for their destination. "Follow me guys and be careful."

Ricky, David and George cautiously strode forward to the left turn in the hall and two doors came into view, one the side wall and the other at the end of the corridor. Ricky tried the door on the side, the handle turning, but the door didn't even budge. He took a closer look to see a red light flashing on the panel where the handle was attached to.

"It's electronically locked." He said. "Maybe if we restore the electricity we could open it."

So then Ricky headed for the other door, which looked a bit newer compared to the door he just attempted to open. He pushed on the large opening switch of the door and it opened with ease. The three men walked in through the door. They now entered a dark room with a metallic staircase going down and they could just see that it turned right after the first section of steps.

"Be careful, it's dark." David warned.

"Duh. Follow me." Ricky said and began to descend with his Sig PRO handgun pointed forward. David followed soon after and George went last.

When Ricky had made t down the first stair section, he heard that chirping noise again. He squinted his eyes as an attempt to see, but the darkness made it too hard, also since the fleas were dark grey in color, they would surely be hard to see in this dim lighting.

"Stay back!" Ricky shouted, referring to David and George as he started reaching for something on his utility belt. He found what he was looking for, a signal flare. He ignited it, releasing a red flash of magnesium bearing light. Just as he was able to see a little bit better, one of those fleas was right in front of him and without a second thought it jumped at Ricky and clung onto his chest.

"Fuck!" Ricky thrust at the flea with his signal flare, making the flea hop off of him, but then the flare ran out of juice and burned out. "For the love of…!"

The flea began to chirp again. Ricky's only reaction now was to flail his arms around so the flea hopefully wouldn't cling onto him.

"Ricky, the blood pack!" George shouted. "Use the blood pack!"

"Damn hell I will!" Ricky took the bag of a human's body fluids, slammed it on the floor and stomped on it, letting out a sickening burst noise.

"Run!" David shouted, now hoping the flea was more interested in the blood on the floor.

Not having to be told twice, the three survivors ran down the staircase, away from the small, yet probably dangerous creature that didn't seem to give chase. After getting down the second section of stairs, Ricky nearly crashed into the door. It was metallic and had a small light hanging above it, illuminating the darkness a little bit, but not too much.

"(Whew) Made it." George sighed.

Ricky wanted to practically fall on his knees and pray that there were no more fleas, but it wouldn't look good for his ego, so he didn't. He opened the door, coming to a better lit place with depressing grey colored walls and floor.

"Just how big is this damn place anyway?" David grumbled, obviously not familiar with what subway stations are completely like.

The new corridor headed forward with a right turn coming up about ten meters away and just a meter away from the door was a left turn that had looked shadowy from within. Now they just had to find Kevin, Mark and Jim and fix the problem so they could finally escape this hell hole of a subway. The first thing the survivors' ears picked up was the sound of jogging footsteps of two… three people. It was coming from the left turn in the corridor, which lead to a stairwell into a darkened corridor. Ricky, David and George readied their weapons just in case it wasn't who they were looking for. Luckily their hope for the right people was granted.

"Hey, you made it!" Said the voice of Kevin.

The steps became faster until a tough built silhouette came quickly to view and finally stepped out of the shadows as Kevin Ryman, followed closely by Jim and finally Mark.

"Good to see you guys alive and well." George complimented whole heartedly.

"It wasn't much. Just a few zombies, nothing we couldn't handle." Mark said confidently.

"Well we're afraid there are more things than zombies now." David replied, his grim mood not sounding different at all.

"Say what!" Jim exclaimed.

"Afraid so." Ricky shook his head. "Now we're experiencing an overly serious pest problem…"

"Meaning?" Kevin asked.

"Fucking giant fleas." Ricky replied. "Those we saw were as big as cats and the girls and Josh claim seeing one the size of a table."

"Holy shit man…" Jim said with a dried voice.

"In fact there's one in the stairwell right now." David added. "A small one, but its dangerous without a flash light. They crave blood, like those leeches back in the hospital, only they're quick and sneaky."

"My life is _shit_..." Jim groaned.

"Say David, we've got a leak you might be able to fix." Kevin turned to the young plumber.

"Meaning?" David asked, without a hint of curiosity.

"There's a big crack on the main waterline. We're trying to fix the sprinkling system…" Kevin explained.

"Hey wait." Ricky cut in. "How'd you know about the train crash?"

"Train crash?" Mark asked surprised.

"Aw damn. I was afraid of that…" Jim cussed. "We turned on the tracks' output and some stray train must've come busting in." Jim explained.

"So it did happen?" Mark asked.

"I'm a little confused here." Ricky said, scratching the back of his head. "Just how do you know of the train crash when you weren't even up there?"

"We were prepared for it since an accident like that is just more than possible if the power's been cut." Jim replied. "So then we'd just turn on the sprinkler system for just in case and that's that. Simple." Jim ended with a shrug.

"Oh." Ricky nodded. "That does explain." To him it was just like the saying: 'Always be prepared'.

"So how big is this crack I'm supposed to fix?" David asked.

"Ooh. About this much…" Kevin held his hands apart to show this cracks length, ranging around forty to forty-five centimeters.

"Well I could fix it if I had enough tape. My roll's almost empty." David replied.

"So now what?" Ricky asked. "If we don't put out the fire in the tunnel we won't be leaving this place anytime soon…" He said and kicked his left leg a bit.

"Well, there is a storage room full of all sorts a shit…" Jim said. "Maybe there's tape."

"But the door's electronically locked." Ricky added in.

"But what if we turn the power on now?" George asked suddenly. "We could fix the leak later."

"Yea, that's right!" Kevin spoke up. "Mark, me and Ricky will go up to get the tape, if there is any, while you guys start the generator. That okay?"

"You bet your ass. I just want outta here." Mark nodded. "Alright, get goin' and don't worry bout us."

"Okay then." Kevin nodded in approval. "Ricky, let's get going and find something to clog up the leak." He told the young mercenary.

"You got it. But we have to watch out for the flea, it's still there." Ricky warned.

Ricky opened the door leading to the dark staircase pointing his bow gun forward. He then signaled Kevin to follow, which the older police officer did with his .45 automatic drawn. They tried scanning the surroundings as best as they could since the whole place was still dim, probably since they never did try to find the light switch. They both went up a few steps until a chirping sound rang in their ears almost making them both jump. They looked around frantically, eyes squinting to get a better view. Kevin's eyes spotted a large, round looking silhouette in the end of the first stair section. Though not sure what it was, this silhouette struck fear into Kevin and he was not going to take chances. He pointed his handgun at the silhouette and pulled the trigger, the muzzle fire and flash startling Ricky and made him grab onto the stairs' railing. The silhouette itself began to chirp even louder and shake rapidly. The silhouette hopped and began rolling down the stairs. Kevin and Ricky dodged it by grabbing the railings of the staircase and watched as the large creature rolled and slammed into the door down below, denting it a little. The silhouette was now more visible thanks to the light attached above the door. It was a flea no doubt, but this one really was the size of a small dinner table, added with a growing smudge of blood on its abdomen.

"Now that's a big bug." Ricky commented.

"Big dead bug more like it." Kevin aimed his handgun again and fired, striking the flea in its thorax, afterwards making it tumble and start kicking like mad until it finally stopped. "He won't be bothering us much now."

"Let's just get the stuff and not admire how you killed and overgrown bug." Ricky snapped lightly.

The two went back up into the upper level corridor. So far no zombies or fleas in sight, so they went straight to the door on the wall to their right with the flashing light on the panel glowing green now instead of red, indicating it was unlocked. They went inside and found the place in quite a mess. The were cardboard boxes placed messily right behind the door and there were red small basket shelves next to the right side wall with random junk and forgotten items in it and a green rotting wooden shelve forward. There were more cardboard boxes placed in front of a small stairway. The room itself was dimly lit with the same brown stone floor and walls and the same moist on the ground. Also the place smelled awful from all the dust, dirt and maybe even mildew.

"Jesus. Are we supposed to find something like tape from this place?" Kevin asked in awe.

"Let's start looking then, we haven't got al day to be hanging around this dump." Ricky said and went over to a decaying green shelve and began looking through the various items.

Kevin could only sigh. The R.P.D officer pulled himself together and began looking through the red basket shelves and pulling the items back to see if there was anything under them.

-

Back in the lobby, Josh was pacing around the room with his handgun and crowbar in hand as he looked around. So far nothing had attempted to come at him or the girls who stood around different places in the room. Alyssa was leaning onto the same wall where the door that lead into the corridor was, along with two bathroom doors. Cindy was with Helene standing in front of the left side staircase's railing and Helene sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs, looking depressed and scared as usual. Yoko was leaning onto one of the two support beams in the room with her backpack taken off and lying besides her feet. Everyone was looking grim, but what's strange about that? Everyone in this room with Josh had lives, normal lives with going to work, hanging out with friends, anything Josh could think of a normal life. Also these people may have had families or relatives here, probably already dead like Helene's. Josh could only imagine of the pain these people were experiencing at the moment.

He himself has a relatively normal life. He has a father and mother, a nice house in the outskirts of Lush Acres, friends and a few relatives close by. He also has an older sister named Mary. She was around twenty-three at the moment and left home three years ago to attend college in Chicago. She was so smart, smarter than both of her parents, a prodigy. Their differences were only in their looks and in intelligence. Unlike Josh who's hair was from their mother's side with the same dark brown shade, his sister was black haired, from their father's side. Their father had attempted to train her into a soldier too, but she was not that interested, sure she did go along with him and Josh when they went to have those father-daughter-son moments and she went along to training a few times, but her only interest was purely studying. Every day she read a book about biology, mathematics, physics or chemistry and she excelled the top of her class outrageously. Only physical activity Mary had were aerobics, which explained herself not looking like a nerd. Josh did inherit some of this intelligence too, but he only excelled in physics and history, for he was purely interested on the propelling force and in history he was a wiz of remembering any big war, his biggest favorite subject being about World War two. However, Josh was more into what his father was: military knowledge, firearms and close quarters combat or CQC for short. He is a big favorite in his school with the females, especially that one bitch called Amy Tolstoy, who kept hitting on various males and sleeping with them to make herself look more superior to the other girls and Josh was one of her targets. Only good friends he had were Raul Baxter and Darryl Braggart, who were probably hanging out at the very moment while he just stood in this doomed city in a battle with zombies and other monsters.

"Please get here fast guys." Josh prayed and took support from the right side railing opposite from where Cindy and Helene were…

-

A/N: Hey, sorry for going so slow, writer's block kept getting at me and my final exams are closing in. I've been trying to improve my grammar every time and I posted other chapters with some corrections made into them. Also, if anyone actually reads this, please leave a review. I need a little support or I might stop going and I don't want that. I'm trying my best to be as good as those other three famous RE writers who's stories I cherish so much. If anyone can give me pointers or hints on how my story would become better. Well, suppose I should start planning for the next chapter. Also I will be taking down my other RE story and I will have it completely re-done. I swear you RE lovers will like it. Stay tuned for chapter 10 soon!


	10. Chapter 10: To Freedom and back

Chapter 10: To freedom and back

Being frustrated enough, Ricky forcefully threw the items from the green shelve, making them sprawl around on the floor. It was hard enough to look through the shelve since the dim lighting made it impossible to see anything through the shadows obscuring the shelves' surfaces. Cans of spray paint, insecticide, lost and found items such as marbles, useless keys and other junk fell on the floor with clanks echoing from them. So far, he and Kevin had come up with nothing for David to seal this crack they had been talking about.

"I swear to God it'll take forever to find some roll of tape from this place!" Ricky growled.

"Calm down Ricky, it's not like that train's gonna take us out of the city." Kevin replied, more calmly than his younger mercenary friend, at least he thought Ricky had to be younger. Judging from the more youthful exterior features, he couldn't be any older than at least twenty-five.

"I have two good reasons to be pissed." Ricky retorted, sticking up his index finger, "First up, we're trying to find something small which is almost impossible to find in some ruffled up storage room for lost and found items and all this other junk." then accompanied with his middle finger. "And second, there's giant fleas trying to kill us and take more bullets than zombies." Ricky replied.

Kevin shrugged and continued rummaging through the red shelves, throwing some useless junk backwards with his hands' movements. Ricky could only sigh and decided reluctant mindedly to search the other green shelve right next to the one he rummaged through just a few minutes ago, but this one had a heavy looking metallic container in front of it, so searching the lowest shelves was not going to happen since it looked too heavy for him to push. He climbed onto the container and began looking through the untidy top row shelves. There was the same sort of metallic junk and trash, but something however did catch his eyes. On the top shelve was a green plastic box with "12-gauge" written on it. He took the box and opened the plastic lid on it, finding it to be full of shotgun shells. Those could prove useful for Josh, so he began scooping the ammunition out of the box and stuffing them into one of his pockets, which were luckily not spewing with items quite yet.

Kevin was onto the last red shelve there was and started searching by first pushing some useless junk off that tremendous pile formed in it. The movement made dust fly which caused the R.P.D officer to cough a few times and made his eyes itch. As he was getting back to rummaging, his eyes spotted something black and round on the floor. He knelt down, letting out one more cough in the process and picked up the object. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, he was sure to be holding a cardboard roll with black, plastic material wrapped around it, or to put it more simply, a roll of black vinyl tape.

"We're in luck man." Kevin turned grinning towards Ricky as he held up the roll of vinyl tape as if it was the most incredible thing he'd seen.

"Alright!" Ricky shot his arm upwards with happiness. "I'm so happy I could almost hug ya." He laughed as he hopped off the container he was on.

"Please don't." Kevin replied, chuckling a little now that he mood had lifted a little. "Now let's get this to David so he can fix the pipe." Kevin added pocketing the tape roll.

"I hear you." Ricky replied and followed Kevin out of the storage room into the damp hallway.

-

Back in the lower level, David, Jim, Mark and George weren't as fortunate. After turning the power on and searching the small stuffy room with a really dim lighting, two small fleas had barged in through the ventilation shaft. They began hopping around, attempting to feed off one of the four humans. David was quickest to react by trying to shoot one of them with his handgun, but after four shots his Beretta M92S had gone empty and was now trying to defend himself with a combat knife he found earlier. Mark had landed one shot on one of the fleas, but in return the giant insect kept hopping around him, trying to land on the bulky man. Jim kept running around the room yelling in terror as his handgun had run out of bullets and reloading without a clip would leave him as an easy victim. George tried staying calm as he tried taking aim at the flea that was chasing Jim, but being only skilled as a surgeon, not a sharpshooter like Kevin or Ricky. Jim cried even louder as the flea clung onto his right forearm. This signaled David to rush towards Jim and almost as if automatically grab Jim's arm with his free hand, lift it up a little and stabbing the flea through its thorax with precise accuracy. The wounded flea dropped, tearing a bit of fabric from Jim's jacket along with it onto the floor and met its demise from a heavy stomp delivered by the young plumber. Mark on the other hand just thought up a brilliant idea on how to get rid of the flea harassing him. He held out his hand as he backed away from the flea, remembering his jacket is lightly armored from the inside, so it might hold off against the flea's sucker. The flea with a mighty leap clung itself on the security guard's arm, but then Mark brought up his handgun and almost jammed it onto the flea and pulled the trigger, sending hot lead through the flea's body. The flea fell on the hard stone floor and also got stomped.

"You're welcome." David said to Jim, referring to him saving Jim from the flea.

"Well, thanks man. I owe you one." Jim said jerking his thumb up. Afterwards Jim emptied out his handgun's clip and started fitting nine millimeter rounds into it, but he ran out after fitting six. "Uh, anyone got any spares?"

"Here." Mark handed Jim a new clip they had found from the employees' lounge. "Two clips are better than one." Mark then dug for some spare ammunition for Jim's emptier clip. "Take this too."

David remained quiet as he fitted ammunition into his handgun, looking around his surroundings at the same time. Like mentioned earlier, the small room they were in was the station's generator room. Just left from to the door was a rusted metallic shelve and about five feet adjacent from it was the generator's activation terminal with a vent between them where the fleas had entered through. From the right began a series of metal net fencing with a large generator placed inside of it and there was a small opening on the fencing in case of having to do maintenance to the generator. As soon as they had activated it, the large machine was letting out a loud humming sound. Opposite that was another rusty door which they had no idea of where it lead.

"Do you guys suppose Kevin and Ricky are having any luck in finding something to seal that pipe?" George asked while placing a fully loaded clip back into his burst handgun.

"Dunno." Mark replied shrugging. "Let's just hope they didn't run into any trouble…"

The door they used to enter the generator room creaked open suddenly, startling the others and making Jim jump up and make him aim towards the door with his handgun.

"Whoa! Easy Jim, it's just us!" Kevin said a tad surprised with his hands up with his Colt 45 automatic handgun in his right hand's grasp. Ricky stood out in the hallway looking behind him to make sure there was nothing there.

Jim groaned from embarrassment when he lowered his gun. "Don't scare us like that man." He wined.

"Did you find anything?" Mark asked.

"Bingo." Kevin dug out the tape roll from his pocket and flashed it to his four fellow survivors.

George went over to Kevin and said, "Good job there Kevin." and patted the officer on the shoulder.

"Yea man," Jim nodded. "Now let's go fix the pipe and we can turn on the sprinklers."

"Alright, then let's move out. We can't keep Josh and the girls waiting too long." Kevin said and signaled everyone to follow. "Let's move it."

Everyone else followed Kevin into another darkened staircase that was closer to the generator room than the one that was closer to the entrance door to the current set corridors the group of survivors was in at the moment. As they descended down the tiny staircase, the soles of their shoes made a sound of hard rubber hitting metallic stairs and they were immediately back to walking on concrete. The dark hallway they were lead smelt humid to the ones who hadn't been there yet. They finally made out a white door in the darkness.

"Through here." Kevin opened the door and took a step into the room, scanning the area for threats. "Looks clear." He signaled everyone to follow him. As Jim was about to enter, his foot hit something on the grounds, which sounded like a coin falling. Curiously he knelt down and began feeling the floor until his hands touched something cold, wet and metallic. Upon closer inspection it looked like some sort of coin imitation of a man's face. Jim pocketed the found emblem and followed everyone else.

The group entered the room, also dark with only a few flickering lights making it able to see. This room had a large pipe running from an up ahead water tank into the wall with a bronze brown terminal with an octagonal hole in it. Just like everyone had said, the pipe had been cracked from its surface, meaning if they had turned on the sprinklers, the water would have come gushing out and wouldn't reach the sprinklers in the platform. Kevin took out the tape roll and held it out to David.

"You know what to do." Kevin said nodding to David.

David took the full roll of tape and nodded. He took a look at the hole on the pipe. It was a vertical rupture, about thirty centimeters long and around fifteen or so centimeters wide. David pulled out some of the vinyl tape from the roll and stuck it above the hole and cut the piece off with his knife. The others waited patiently for David to finish fixing the pipe. They concentrated on their surroundings; everything was quiet, except for the tearing noise caused by David. A few minutes were spent in silence until came the sound of wood or something similar hitting the floor.

"I'm done." David spoke, standing back from his work. David had stuck the entire roll of vinyl tape onto the pipe with strips of them covering the crack and more strips placed atop the strips to ensure it wouldn't leak much.

"Now what do we do?" George asked.

"See that?" Kevin pointed at the large tank. "We just use the valve handle to let the water out."

Mark was way ahead of Kevin as the robust man went up next to the tank and knelt down. Getting back up he was holding a red device that looked like a steering wheel or a large valve handle. He attached to handle into the octagonal hole on the pump's terminal. He gripped the cold metal tighter and with a silent grunt, he turned the handle to the right, producing an ear piercing chafe screech. He turned it again, this time turning it more than the last time and the screech died down. After a few seconds the tank began to let out a sound similar to a toilet flushing. The vinyl tape seal created by David began to bulge a little and the sound of flowing water entered the small room. Everyone watched eagerly at the vinyl tape mass, wondering would it hold or burst at any moment. David counted in his mind… ten seconds… fifteen seconds… twenty… twenty-five… thirty…

"It's holding." He sighed from relief.

With that ensured, the other survivors eased off. Now the sprinkler system would start at any moment and they could get the hell away from the subway.

"C'mon guys. Let's get outta this shit hole." Kevin spoke up and turned to walk towards the door.

Upon touching the knob, the door shook in its hinges, making Kevin jump back from surprise. The door shook again with a hard pound as if something was throwing itself onto the door. A mourning moan sounded from beyond the door as it got pounded once again. Hearing the same moan everyone had heard hundreds of times during this whole ordeal simplified it. A zombie was trying to get inside.

"How the hell'd that get here!" Mark wondered frustrated. "We killed every zombie we saw down here."

"You sure?" Ricky asked. "Are you certain even in that dark hallway? I for one couldn't see almost anything in that blackness."

"But why didn't it moan earlier then?" Mark wondered.

"Maybe it's a fresh one." George conjectured. "Suppose someone was down here and was eaten not too long before we got here and the corpse simply got back up."

"Makes sense to me." Ricky agreed. "Okay, George, you up to using your handgun's burst mechanism?"

"I know how we can get rid of it without wasting ammunition." George mentioned. The good doctor dug something out of his pocket. He produced a pistol like white object with a large barrel. It seemed similar to a tranquilizer gun. He then reached under his suit's coat and after searching for something, placed a white oval object into this strange gun. "Go ahead and let it in." George said rather calmly as he aimed his strange gun at the door.

Kevin went over to the door and placed his hand around the door handle. The cop breathed hard to calm himself as he readied his hand to turn the knob. His breathing quickened and he turned the knob and instantly darted backwards. The door was swung open with a lone zombie barging in with its arms outstretched. This zombie was wearing the same kind of uniform as Jim. This person's entire midsection was torn open with straps of skin, tissue and intestines hanging limply down form it. His skin was a normal color except in the parts where blood had obscured it and this zombie's head wasn't covered in blood, except for a tiny portion of its neck. Though the survivors didn't get much of a look as George fired with his strange gun and the zombie was pushed back by the shot's impact. The undead person instantly fell on its back with a wet thud and didn't even twitch. Rick instantly felt impressed while the others seemed to act as if that was nothing new. Ricky just had to congratulate the good doctor for this.

"Nice head shot." He smirked. "For a doctor you're pretty good at this."

"That wasn't a head shot. I aimed at its midsection." George replied casually.

"What are you implying?" Ricky asked, suddenly bewildered. "How could a zombie fall dead from one shot in the midsection!" Ricky just had to be. He and surely everyone else knew that zombies could only be killed by a headshot or spinal injury. And now this doctor claims he killed one with one shot to the midsection with some strange gun he'd never seen before. "What the hell kinda gun is that anyway!"

"Ah. This is an ampoule shooter." George replied and let Ricky take a much better look at it. "This fires many types of medicinal pills created from herbs and such. Also I can use it to fire anti-virus pills that somehow have the ability to dispose of zombies when exposed to it."

Ricky's jaw and eyes widened slightly after hearing this. He first figured George was just a kind doctor, but it turns out this guy carried around something that spelled instant doom to zombies.

"Anti-virus pills can do that?" Ricky asked.

"Oh. You've heard of them?" George asked.

"Yea, we were supplied with them to give to civilians who were infected in hopes of slowing down their infection rate. That way we could have gotten them the anti-virus vaccine with more hopes of it working." Ricky explained.

"Hey wait. There really is a cure!" Jim asked.

"We were injected with it before the mission started. My team's medic had some of them, only he died and the vaccines were lost." Ricky further explained.

"Aw shit man…" Jim stomped.

"Huh? What's the matter with you all of a sudden?" Ricky asked.

"Oh… we didn't tell you about it." Kevin spoke up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Wait… you mean that…" Ricky just couldn't believe what he was thinking.

"Yes, we're afraid so." George looked gloomily downwards. "We're infected."

"Holy shit!" Ricky gasped. "I knew we should have tried to save the vaccines! Aw fuck! I could have saved some people but…"

"Ricky calm down. We're cool." Mark shook the young mercenary. "We now know for sure there's a cure and now we can find one eventually."

"Yea," Kevin agreed full heartedly. "Umbrella has tons of hideouts in town so we just might find this vaccine eventually."

"But how'd you know about the pills and the vaccine?" Ricky asked suspiciously.

"Yoko told us. She even found a report to prove it a few days ago when we were inside an underground Umbrella facility." George replied.

"Oh…" Ricky blinked a few times afterwards. "That explains a lot." Ricky began digging through one of his chest pouches. He took out a push-through strap with eight anti-virus pills in it. "You guys will need these more than I do now."

"I think you should give those to Josh and Helene. They're surely infected just like we are since they were using Raccoon's water." Kevin suggested.

"Oh you don't need to worry." Ricky shook his head briefly. "Josh is from out of town. He arrived just yesterday."

"What about Helene?" Kevin solemnly asked.

Ricky's eyes widened after hearing that. "Damn, forgot about her…"

"Don't fret my friend. Since we now surely know there's a cure, you should use these on Helene. You don't need to worry about us since I've got lots." George said optimistically.

"Good point." Ricky admitted. He now had the job to get everyone out of the city limits and to help them get the anti-virus vaccine to ensure they will live.

"We should get going and not waste time bickering." Kevin cut in. "Agreed?"

"True." Ricky nodded. "Let's get outta here."

"And about time too." Jim muttered.

-

Josh continued pacing around in the lobby with his handgun and crowbar at the ready. So far nothing new had happened. Helene had recovered from her panicky state and was silently sitting by the stairs' safety railing with Cindy. Yoko carried on leaning onto the support beam and Alyssa had taken out a booklet and was writing something down. If Josh remembered correctly, Alyssa was a reporter, so was she writing something about this incident? If she could blow this thing wide open Umbrella would be in so much trouble it would make Hitler's or Stalin's crimes look like a street scuffle. Josh's ears instantly picked up some sort of noise.

"Hey guys!" Josh got everyone's attentions. "Ya hear that?"

"Hmm?" Cindy's head rose up slightly. Her ears began picking up a new sound. It sounded like the hissing of raining water like from a shower. Cindy stood up and took a peek down from the protection railing into the dark stairway heading down to the train platform. "It sounds like showers." She spoke.

"The others must have fixed the sprinkler system." Yoko said, standing up straight from the support beam.

"They did it…" Josh sighed. A small, almost not noticeable smile formed on Josh's lips. "We can leave this hell-hole of a subway for good."

"And good riddance too." Helene retorted.

"Let's not get too hasty all of a sudden." Cindy said. "We should wait for everyone and then we can leave."

"Of course," Josh nodded in agreement. "It's not like we're in that much of a hurry."

"I just want them to hurry it up." Helene said, her voice sounding so much uneasy than before. This attracted some uncomfortable glances from Josh and Cindy.

"Are you feeling alright Helene?" Cindy asked concerned.

"No…" Helene retorted quietly. Her expression had darkened with a few un-kept strands of her black hair shadowing her face. "I want out of here. I want to live." She said meekly.

Cindy kneeled slightly so that she was in Helene's head level and supported herself by pressing her arms to her knees. "We know how you feel Helene. I'm sure we'll all make it out of here alive." She placed a reassuring hand on Helene's shoulder.

Helene remained silent. She turned away from Cindy and took support from the stairs' safety railing and continued looking down.

"I guess she finally snapped." Alyssa sighed quietly.

"Don't say it out loud Alyssa." Yoko warned. "You could hurt her and we don't need that."

Alyssa murmured and crossed her arms and he foot began tapping on the concrete floor of the lobby. They had been waiting surely over an hour and now one of them was starting to snap. She had the mind to be pissed when Kevin and the rest got back. The door that everyone had gone through suddenly opened.

"Sorry it took so long guys." Kevin said as he appeared.

"About time too, Kevin!" Alyssa piped-up with a scowl.

"What's up with you?" Kevin asked walking up to the reporter with a surprised expression. "You seem more pissed than usual."

"Yes, it seems so." Alyssa replied grouchily. "We've been waiting here for over an hour and Helene's already about to crack." Alyssa jerked her index finger towards Helene who was looking down into the darkness of the platforms' staircase.

"Don't be putting the blame on us." George intervened. "I'd save that blame rather on those fleas than us."

"Yea, that's right." Mark agreed full-heartedly. "Just try going up against them yourself, why don't cha."

"Yea, quit yo bitching Alyssa. We were trying to save our asses there too." Jim joined in the quarrel.

"Hey, guys." Ricky came in between the entire skirmish. "Let's not fight amongst ourselves at this time. Let's just get outta here."

"I agree." George replied with a simple nod. "We should leave now before anything else happens."

"I'll deal with you later Alyssa." Kevin said to the agitated reporter who answered by looking away from the officer. "All aboard cause the next train is leaving for any place but this!" Kevin called out to everyone.

The survivors gathered around, all except for Helene. Josh looked at her, gazing down towards the staircase, her black hair shadowing most of the side of her head. Josh, feeling bad towards his newfound Japanese friend, went over to her and leaned over a little over the railing to look at Helene's face. Helene's eyes showed an expression of pure sorrow, agony and even rage, for her teeth were bared, gritted together tightly as she looked down at a necklace she had dug out from under her shirt. The necklace was made from a black leather string with a golden plate attached to it with a Japanese letter engraved into it. Her hands held it delicately as if it was very fragile, but then her palm close around it and she squeezed it, at the same time her eyes releasing tears.

"…I hate them…" She sniffed. More tears flowed down her delicate face and they shut tight. "I hate Umbrella!" She sniffed even harder. "They took my family away from me! And they hurt all those innocent people!" She sniffled as her eyes opened slightly.

"Helene…" Josh sighed. He almost felt as if he'd cry too. Never in his life had he seen anyone so sad, in so much agony of losing all her loved ones. It was all Umbrella's fault this happened. Josh now hated that company as much as everyone else in this room with him did. They were to be brought to justice for their crimes. "Helene, we'll stop Umbrella." Josh spoke with a determined tone. "We'll get back for every life they took away, including your family."

Helene stopped sobbing almost instantly after hearing Josh's bold statement. She turned her head towards Josh, the surrounding area of her eyes having reddened. Josh stood there casually eyeing at the girl's face. In an instant, Helene threw herself towards Josh and wrapped her arms around him. This startled Josh and made some of the people watching this glance in surprise. Josh at first felt embarrassed, but then felt comfortable for some reason unknown to him.

"Josh… let's get out of here…" Helene whispered. "I want out of this mess…"

Josh patted Helene on the shoulder with reassurance. A small smile formed on Josh's lips and he said, "Let's go."

"Man I knew it." Ricky said to no one in particular.

"Knew what?" Yoko asked.

"That they dig each other." Ricky smirked.

Kevin walked up to Josh and Helene. Helene released Josh from her hug and stroke away her tears as the cop approached them.

"Ready to get the hell outta here?" He asked, placing a hand on his hip.

"With pleasure." Josh nodded.

"Okay then." Kevin glanced back towards the other survivors who stood there eagerly. "We're leaving right now."

The survivors gathered and went down into the dark staircase. Upon reaching the platform level, a humid smell wafted into everyone's nostrils. The platform was drenched in water, a few puddles formed here and there and the once burning wreckage was now a smoldering pile of charred, deformed mass of metal. Despite the joyous feeling from getting the hell out of that godforsaken subway infested with oversized bugs. In fact, Josh remembered seeing only about four zombies in the entire place, but there was the possibility that everyone else had seen more of them in the corridors of the subway staffs' quarters. Dealing with zombies as a matter of fact was almost a luxury compared to the giant flea he and the girls fought not too long ago.

"Last call for any place but this hell hole!" Jim facetiously shouted. "All aboard."

The survivors entered the subway car, the illuminated inside making the atmosphere feel less dreadful than outside. Jim began working on the controls while everyone else took a seat. Now they were one step ahead from escaping Raccoon City if the train would happen to send them to a less hazardous surrounding, or close to some place like the airport for instance where they could hitch a ride on a plane or a chopper to get out. But they couldn't do that just yet, not Kevin and his friends who had been running around the chaos enchanted city for a several days now. They had to find the anti-virus to cure themselves of the T-virus infection. Ricky's information had provided them with some light, giving them hope to save themselves. Everyone patiently waited for Jim to start the tram. He turned the ignition key and turned the start lever, afterwards pushing some other buttons. Instantly the hissing of the breaks being turned off came and the tram came to life.

"Finally…" Josh thought. "We're outta here." He rested his head on the backrest of the bench row and shut his eyes in order to rest before he had to continue running…

The train nudged forward sharply, causing everyone to rock the opposite direction. Josh lifted hi head back from the backrest and looked out the window right behind him. The tram seemed to be functional, but for some reason it wasn't moving.

"Don't tell me this thing malfunctioned." Alyssa groaned frustrated.

"Don't ask. I don't know anything about train mechanics." Kevin replied. He stood up from the bench and looked towards Jim who was checking out the controls. "Any ideas Jim?"

"Not sure…" Jim said bluntly. "As if we're being pulled back."

"What'd ya mean?" Mark asked the young man.

"Could it be that…" Josh spoke glancing towards the back of the train.

"What's on your mind kid?" Ricky asked, leaning closer towards Josh.

"Isn't there a car linked to this tram?" Josh asked audibly.

"I guess it's possible. It's so dim I couldn't tell." Ricky replied. "And the since the tunnel behind us is caved in, isn't there a chance the weight of the collapsed ceiling's keeping the train from rolling?" He said with a despondent tone.

"Let's check it out guys. This is the only tram there is and if we don't get it moving, we're stuck here for good." Kevin said urgently. He got up from the mildly cushioned bench and hurried out of the tram. He looked back inside with some of the others survivors only getting off their seats since Kevin himself left so fast the others had barely any time to react. "Ya coming?"

The crew of diverse survivors got out of the tram and followed Kevin to the back of the train. Kevin was looking right at the mouth of the tunnel, of in fact, what used to be the mouth of the tunnel. A large amount of rocks had collapsed down from the tunnel's roof and seemed to have been glued together by some strange excretion. Kevin touched the substance with his gloved hand, his fingers not being able to penetrate it. He then poked the substance with more force, but his fingers still didn't penetrate it. This substance felt as hard as cement. It was no wonder the tram wasn't moving since he car it was coupled to was practically glued into the collapsed tunnel.

"What the hell is this shit?" Kevin asked puzzled.

Ricky took a closer look at the substance. Despite the dim lighting, he could tell it was the same stuff he and Alyssa saw in the opposite tunnel.

"This must be that same stuff me and Alyssa saw in the exit tunnel." Ricky conjectured. "Did those fleas do this?"

"If they made something like this, there must be hundreds of them." Kevin replied uneasily. "Or they're bigger than what we've seen up to now."

"If we start the train we should escape unharmed." George spoke calmly. "We'd just need to uncouple this car from the tram."

Josh heard clearly what the doctor said. He walked over to the car coupling and began searching it for a button or switch to uncouple them, unfortunately he didn't find anything. The coupling was just decoratively worded metal with two hole-like indentations in them.

"How the fuck do you break these apart!" Josh asked bewildered. "And my crowbar won't bend this anytime soon."

"Hey, let's ask Jim. He knows more about this place than anyone else." Cindy suggested.

"That's right." Kevin turned to the train conductor. "Jim, any idea how the uncoupling works?"

"Yea. We just tick the finders' emblems in those holes." Jim jerked a finger towards the coupling.

"Finder's emblems?" David wondered. "Any idea where those are?"

"I got one right here man." Jim ruffled his jacket's pocket and dug out the emblem he had found in the dark underground hallway.

"Great. But where's the other one?" Alyssa asked grumpily.

"How should I know?" Jim shrugged innocently. "Hey it's not my fault all this shit started and they got lost."

"We have to find that other emblem." Ricky said urgently. "If we don't, we're stuck here for good and as good as dead."

Josh groaned and slumped onto the side of the tram. The weariness and exhaustion had taken a lot out of him and going looking for some emblem just had to get into the picture. That thing could have been anywhere now so they'd probably have to search the entire subway station for it. Not to mention those fleas and zombies that were crawling around down there. Josh's eyes turned away from his fellow survivors towards the end of the platform. He surely would have slipped into his own world of imagination until he spotted two figures hopping right towards them. He couldn't quite make them out, so he began to squint. After around twenty or so seconds of squinting, the figures had gotten too close.

"Ah!" Josh cried and fired with his handgun, his shot missing, but startling the other survivors into looking at his and the flea's direction.

"More of them bastards!" Mark shouted and began aiming at the two cat-sized fleas.

Everyone well armed aimed their weapons at the incoming duo of fleas. Handguns began to fire in rapid succession, a few shots missing, but the fleas' attempts to avoid the hail of bullets failed miserably when both were struck with enough hot lead so that they both fell on the floor dead and twitching.

"We have to find that emblem before we get overrun by those things and run out of ammo." Josh spoke with a determined tone.

"You bet." Kevin agreed. "Okay, we'll cover this place first. Remember to search any place possible, under rocks or benches or even the tracks." He said gravely to the other survivors.

Everyone agreed to their leader's plan and spread out in small groups. As soon as they made it away from the tram, more of those smaller fleas had found their way into the platform. The survivors began using as little firepower possible to get the small pests out of their way. Kevin was able to kick one that was in the middle of a leap and fired at it with his powerful Colt 45. automatic, rendering the flea into a dead pile of chitin and blood. David roughly overturned one of the benches and found nothing except a discarded empty beer bottle and cussed from irritation. Josh, Yoko, Mark and Helene ran as fast as they could towards the end of the platform with a duo of fleas right on their tails. The four survivors quickly became cornered, the fleas quickening their pace to get a drink of fresh human blood. Fortunately Josh still had his Remington, so he as quickly as possible un-strapped it and fired at the closest one, making its now dead body fling down onto the tracks. The other one however got too close and clung onto Josh's chest, its prickly feet stinging through Josh's t-shirt. The youth began to try and pry the oversized insect off of him, but his attempts seemed futile as the flea's legs had a tight grip onto his clothing.

"Help me God dammit!" Josh cried in fright.

Mark took matters into his own hands. He grabbed Josh with one hand by the shoulder and stuck his handgun right onto the flea and fired, the bullet piercing through the insect's body. The flea fell off the teen military fanatic and kicked. Josh began crazily stomping the writhing mutant insect until its body was completely tattered, squashed and oozed bodily fluids.

Ricky unloaded a few arrows into his pursuing fleas directions. He couldn't quite get a good shot in since the tracks' blackness made the small monsters barely recognizable. Ricky then hastily climbed onto the opposite side of the platform and ran for his dear life. He came up to a bench and with a forceful and furious push, turned it over and only found dust and discarded food wrappers. He then continued running from his pursuers.

"Found anything yet!" Kevin yelled towards the ones who had made it to the other side of the platform. He then took aim at an approaching flea and with his precise aiming, took it out with one well placed shot.

"No! And these little buggers aren't making it any easier!" Alyssa replied shouting more exhaustedly. "Fucking hell!" She growled sidestepping from one flea's path.

"Cindy, anything on our side?" Kevin asked the waitress who had stayed on Kevin's side of the platform.

"Not good at all Kevin." Cindy shook her head. "I hope it's on the other side instead of somewhere else."

"Yo guys!" Jim's voice echoed from the opposite platform right where the junked up train had crashed. "I got it!" He waved to the others with both hands, one of them holding a greenish metal object shaped like another face print of an old man, who was one of the Raccoon subways founders back when the person who this face belonged to was alive.

Jim then made a mad dash towards to the tram, one flea almost getting to cling onto him, but it so far only managed to scrape off a piece of fabric from his jacket.

"Guys!" Kevin shouted as loud as he could muster, bringing one hand close to his mouth. "Jim's got the emblem! Forget the fleas and run for your lives!" He informed everyone in the platform. "C'mon Cindy." Kevin grabbed onto her hand and pulled her towards the tram, the waitress almost tripping form Kevin's mighty pull.

"You heard him youngsters." Mark told Josh, Helene and Yoko. "Time to go."

Everyone ran as fast as they could towards the tram, the few fleas that were still alive attempting to go after them. Yoko was almost getting left behind since she was one of the slowest runners in the group. She yelped as she lost her footing and fell on the hard concrete. She tried to get up as fast as she could, but one of the quicker fleas was almost on tope of her. Josh and Helene looked back to their friend in danger and rushed over towards her. The flea was almost on top of her when Josh went in its way and delivered a ferocious football kick, its force enough to make the flea stumble on the ground. Helene extended her hand out to Yoko and helped her up. The two Japanese girls ran ahead with Josh firing upon the stumbled down flea and attempted to shoot another one that was getting dangerously close, but his gun only let out an audible click. His gun was now empty for the first time.

"Shit!" Josh retorted and made a run for it, Ricky almost coming to his aid.

"Hurry it up kid!" Ricky swung his arm towards Josh.

Josh boosted his speed into his maximum and ran past Ricky. The young mercenary then ran after him towards the tram where Kevin was waiting impatiently.

"About time too!" He retorted. "Get in!"

The three survivors hurried inside the tram and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Okay Jim that's everyone. Let's get going!" Kevin commanded.

"Right, hang on." Jim began fiddling the controls of the tram once again.

Josh and Ricky slumped down onto the benches in exhaustion, panting quickly and sweat dribbling down their foreheads. Kevin stayed on his feet and looked around him. All his friends were seated on the benches, exhausted and sweaty from that last hurdle. But it all paid off since they got the tram in working order. As Kevin could breathe out a sigh of relief, something crashed through the tram's window. The cop could only manage out a yelp when something reached out to him, causing the tram to bob roughly. The cop was yanked out of the tram and leaved everyone else shocked and puzzled.

"Kevin!" Cindy shouted from surprise.

"What the hell was that!" Mark exclaimed looking out the now ruined window. He could make out a large form walking off towards the exit tunnel. "Holy shit! That thing's huge!" He shouted in disbelief.

"We have to go rescue Kevin." Ricky stood up urgently. "He can still be alive."

"I'm going with you." David announced, un-strapping his SPAS 12 shotgun.

"Same here." Mark agreed. "I'm not leaving behind a buddy of mine. Especially since Kevin's been doing such a good job on keeping us alive."

"I'm coming too." Josh stood up, but was forced back onto the bench by a light push from Ricky.

"No!" Ricky retorted. "That thing is not a small fry. Besides I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times, you're not going into battle with something like that!"

"But…" Josh tried to talk back.

"No buts!" Ricky yelled, making Josh wince. "Gimme the shotgun Josh and some shells. Me and David will need them."

Josh sighed, fully understanding Ricky was not going to accept his wishes to help. Reluctantly Josh un-strapped his Remington 870 shotgun and handed it to Ricky and emptied his pockets out of the few shells he had.

"Please Ricky, you have to save Kevin." Cindy pleaded, taking holding onto the mercenary's arm. The sparkle in her eyes told Ricky that Cindy and Kevin must be very good as friends. They might have known each other from maybe school or perhaps Cindy and Kevin had feelings for each other. But whatever that was, he had to promise everyone that Kevin will come out of this mess alive.

"Don't you worry Cindy." Ricky grinned. "Whatever that thing was that took Kevin, it's gonna wish it had thought twice before doin' that."

"Mark," George informed. "Take me burst handgun, it could prove better against that monstrosity." George handed out his Beretta M93R handgun, seeing as how large this new creature was, Mark surely would have needed this powerful sidearm more than he did at the moment.

"Great, thank you kindly." Mark nodded and took the handgun, switching it to burst mode.

"You all stay here while we go conduct the rescue." Ricky declared. "If we're not back in an hour, get outta here."

"Alright, don't get killed out there." Jim replied.

"David, Mark, let's go." Ricky told his two comrades. The three heavily armed survivors walked out of the tram and ran towards the exit tunnel, everyone in the tram watching them get closer and closer to the darkness...

A/N: Whew, twelve pages in one chapter. Pretty good huh? I just wanna announce this story has just about reached the halfway point, but I'm now trying to choose that will this story contain at least 25 or 30 chapters. If you want to tell me your opinion on that, just review this or e-mail me. The next chapter will be underway soon, so expect more Resident Evil goodness. Also summer vacation's almost started so there'll be a lot of updates in the near future. Later.


	11. Chapter 11: Despair

Chapter 11: Despair

"_Still trapped under Raccoon City, the darkness and shadows feeling far from comforting compared to those zombies. The darkness that has befallen the city is too much for anyone to bear, but luckily we've kept our sanity. But will we be able to maintain it for hurdles to come? We must push on, no matter what the odds."_

The feeling inside the probably only remaining subway tram in Raccoon City was had turned from hope to despair. Kevin Ryman, R.P.D officer was just snatched off from the group by an unknown beast and carried off into the darkness of the exit tunnel. Taking command, Ricky devised a simple, yet heroic plan to go get him back with the help of David King, a young and mysterious plumber and Mark, an old war veteran, now security guard. The others were left behind into the train, having an hour to wait for their return. If an hour would come to pass, they were to leave immediately.

"I hope they all come back okay." Cindy said grievously.

"Aw, don't start worryin' about them that much" Jim replied in a slightly more chipper mood. "Seein' what those guys have done, I can bet my ass they'll be back before even halftime."

"Jim, shut up." Alyssa suddenly snapped. Alyssa glanced towards Cindy, who was sitting there quietly, staring down on the floor with such a sorrowful look on her youthful features. Having heard that Kevin and Cindy have known each other for such a long period of time, they have become such good friends. It was no wonder she was so depressed over the R.P.D officer.

"What?" Jim asked. "I just said that…"

"Shut up or I'll make Josh kick your ass!" Alyssa halted Jim's sentence.

"What'd I do?" Jim asked purely astonished.

"Just look at her!" Alyssa growled referring to Cindy. "She's worried over her friends and you go off yapping your big mouth!"

"I was just tryin' to cheer her up!" Jim shot back resentfully.

Josh watched as the two adults bickered. He could only sigh from the immature event taking place. Truth to be told, he was worried about Ricky and the rest as well. Just as they were about to get out of the nightmarish subway station, something just had to come up and make things harder for everyone. First the sprinklers, then the finders' emblems and now this. The biggest question however was that is Kevin still alive? Was he trying to get away at this very moment or was he being devoured as Ricky, Mark and David were conducting their rescue operation? They could only wait for now and hope for the best.

"Stop it you too!" George went in between Alyssa's and Jim's argument. "This senseless bickering isn't going to solve anything. All we can now do now is wait." He spoke. "Jim, I think you shouldn't talk right now and Alyssa, don't go snapping at people for everything they do. Agreed?"

Alyssa sat back down on the bench and crossed her arms, looking much more pissed off than earlier while Jim just lazily slumped himself next to the small portion of metal wall that separated the tram's driver's compartment from the passengers' side. Total silence ensued for the next few minutes, aside from Jim's foot tapping on the floor. The silence made the scene more uncomfortable by each second. Only thing Josh could think of to keep himself occupied was to empty out his handgun's emptied clip and start fitting nine millimeter rounds into it.

"Those guys better come back alive…" He thought as his fingers almost as if automatically fitted the golden colored bullets into the black metallic clip. He then slammed the clip into the gun and he was done.

-

Ricky, David and Mark ran as fast as their feet would carry them towards the darkness of the exit tunnel. They were now on a very important mission to find and rescue their friend, officer Kevin Ryman. The kidnapper was what Mark had pictured to be an irrationally large insect-like creature. Deep in the confines of his mind, Ricky had a feeling this was probably going to turn up as the mother of all insects. Since there were first those small cat sized fleas, then the ones the size of tables, so what were the chances of this one being even bigger? Quite large he thought. He had a promise to keep to Cindy and everyone else, including David and Mark who were assisting him on this rescue to get Kevin back alive. However, if the creature was as large as Mark pictured, Ricky and David's uncertainty only rose.

Ricky at the moment was armed with his SIG pro handgun and Josh's Remington 870 while Josh was left to take care of his M4A1 to reserve the assault rifle's much needed ammunition for the future. He was now stocked up on a fairly good amount of twelve-gauge shells, which he planned to share with David. David was also equipped with a twelve-gauge shotgun, a SPAS 12 to be precise, a Beretta M92F and his knife, but that little thing was surely going to be totally useless against such a large creature. Mark was the most lightly armed, his inventory consisting of a Beretta M93R burst handgun and his custom handgun. Ricky knew he still had three grenades left, but he felt the urge of reserve these for a better purpose, most of them already wasted when his mission began and two of them were used up on the giant leech and the giant crocodile down in the sewers.

"We better be careful guys. We're almost there…" Ricky said to his too friends, the darkness around them setting in fast.

"Let's just save good ol' Kevin and get the fuck outta here." Mark said seriously. "No funny stuff there junior."

"I wasn't planning any on that." Ricky replied.

Darkness almost blinded the three men, but thanks to their quick pace, they came up to the dimly lit area where Ricky and Alyssa discovered the strange mucus. As soon as they had made it past the first supporting concrete beam, they stopped dead in their tracks with looks of pure terror and incredulity.

"Holy shit…" David murmured.

Standing before them above the mucus stood the largest bug they had seen in their entire lives. It was the size of two minivans placed on top of each other and held up by skinny legs. There stood a flea that mentioned size. Its body had a dark brown shade of coloration and unlike its smaller brethren, it had long, claw like appendages close to its head. There being held in place was a well alive human figure, conscious and kicking about furiously.

"Kevin!" Mark called out.

"Guys! Watch out!" The cop warned. "There are more of them!"

"What the f…" Ricky could only let out when four of those red table sized fleas appeared from behind the gigantic flea and stood their ground in front of it as if protecting it like loyal guards.

"Oh! You've got to be kidding me!" Ricky yelled in disbelief. A gigantic flea was bad enough, but four more of those table sized ones along with it was just too much. "Okay, one last wish Ricky?" He asked himself. "Yea: should have brought a rocket launcher."

"Let's go!" David yelled and rushed towards the army of fleas, shotgun loaded and ready. "C'mon guys!"

"Ricky, c'mon!" Mark said looking at the young soldier.

"You betcha!" Ricky gritted his teeth tight. "Charge!" He cried and ran after David, Mark following close behind.

"No! Get outta here!" Kevin pleaded, still trying to break loose from the flea's stone hard grip.

"Not without you!" David shot back. He fired at one of the guard fleas with his SPAS, making them flinch backwards.

"Aaaaaargh!" Ricky roared, as he unleashed a flurry of nine millimeter rounds from his Sig PRO towards the wounded guard fleas. One of the fleas fell down writhing onto its side and one of them lost its footing, which David finished off with his SPAS before leaping backwards to avoid getting bull rushed by one of the two remaining guard fleas.

"Eat this you bastards!" Mark yelled as he unloaded two bursts at one of the remaining guard fleas. He began to feel as if he was reliving those hellish days fighting for his life in Vietnam. Senseless bloodshed, friends in danger, it was nowhere different from war, even if the enemy was a massive amount of undead, mutant insects, skinless freaks with long tongues and razor sharp claws or reptilian monstrosities with a will to kill anything that moved.

"Guys, just forget about me! Get the hell outta here and save yourselves!" Kevin demandingly yelled.

"We're not leavin' a bud behind! We came to rescue ya, and that's damn hell what we're gonna do!" Mark yelled back.

The giant flea began to take steps backwards with its loyal guards now in the mercy of these three human beings. The men came closer with each step, their weapons drawn and ready to open fire upon its massive body. Ricky unloaded a few handgun rounds into the flea's abdominal area, the bullets almost piercing the tough carapace. Having felt the hot lead, the giant flea screeched.

"Ya like that bitch!" Ricky mockingly asked the giant flea. "Well, try this instead!" Ricky holstered his handgun and un-strapped the Remington 870. Ricky fluidly turned off the weapon's safety and unleashed a burst of shots, dealing more damage than ever to the giant flea.

Feeling the flea's grip around him loosening, Kevin yanked his arm free and un-holstered his trusty Colt. 45 automatic. He aimed back as well as his skills would allow him to and pulled o the trigger. The 45 ACP round pierced into the carapace of the flea greatly because of the small distance. The flea screeched even more and released Kevin. The officer landed with hard force, his body weight making him fall on his knees and bruise them. Kevin grunted from this, but managed to get away from his kidnapper.

"I'm free!" Kevin shouted in victory. "Let's take this bugger out once and for all!"

"I hear that! Good to have ya back Kevin." Mark smiled slightly.

The giant flea had now had it. Its meal was disturbed, its children were killed and now its prey had escaped. As a final attempt, the giant insect screeched out loud as if calling for something.

"Our little friend's giving up all ready!" Ricky sneered. "Ha! It's more of a fanny than we thought!"

"No Ricky." Kevin shook his head while keeping his aim towards the giant flea steady. "I think it's up to something else."

"No hell, look!" Mark pointed behind the flea.

A group of about six fleas came wheeling from the darkness, bouncing off the floor like basketballs. The giant flea must have called those there.

"Hit the deck!" David shouted.

Mark fired two burst shots at one of the incoming fleas. The bullets surely had hit head on since the flea stopped in its tracks and collapsed onto its feet. Ricky dived out of the way from an incoming flea, then rolled out of the way from another one. Ricky then quickly brought up his legs and kicked them out front while planting his hand onto the ground, the momentum throwing him back to his feet. David pressed himself firmly against the tunnel wall, as the fleas simply rolled past him. Mark and Kevin were doing it the hard way by dodging the overgrown mutant insects the best they could. Once the fleas had gone past them, the got on their feet and were coming back to attack.

"Keep those busy! I'll handle the big one." Kevin ordered. He rushed towards the largest flea.

"You heard him! Let's take 'em out!" David encouraged Mark and Ricky who tried keeping their distance from the incoming fleas.

Ricky pumped in a new shell into his shotgun's chamber and went over to the closest flea. The monster of an insect rushed out with a headbutt, but Ricky leapt backwards to avoid it. Now with the flea's minor defense down, he fired with the shotgun, getting a precise shot in the head, thus killing the flea. David tried the same too, only he came at the closest flea and instantly fired with his shotgun, dealing the same kind of damage like Ricky did to the earlier flea. Mark was hastily in the side fitting rounds into the burst handgun's grip while watching out for surprise attacks pointed towards him. While the others were busy keeping the smaller fleas in check, Kevin had gone up towards the giant flea. This encounter was going to be personal for the giant monstrosity had tried to use him as food. Kevin was ready to open fire, but the giant insect swiped one of its appendages while stepping towards Kevin. Not being prepared, Kevin was struck hard on his chest and was sent flying a few feet, scraping his arm in the process.

"Fucking son of a bitch!" Kevin growled getting up, a series of painful vibes moving up and down his injured arm. Now knowing the giant flea was capable of doing something else other than just relying on its smaller brethren, he was going to be keeping his distance. Though large and clumsy, this flea packed a punch. "This is for kidnapping me, dirt bag!" Kevin yelled to the flea and took aim with his powerful Colt. 45 automatic. He landed a precise shot into he flea's thorax, then he aimed more to the left and struck the flea right on the back of the head, making it step backwards.

"These guys ain't so tough after all." Ricky mocked upon downing the last of the smaller fleas with the help of David. "Think we should go help out?" He asked referring to Kevin who was fighting the giant flea alone.

"Okay. We have to get up close to it." David nodded.

"Mark, follow us!" Ricky signaled. "We're going after the big mother fucker now."

Kevin continued taking shots into the giant flea. The ACP rounds seemed very effective against this enemy, one more good reason why Kevin kept saving his favorite handgun for occasions like this. Thinking back if he had wasted all his ACP rounds, this could be harder than what it already was. Suddenly his gun only let out audible clicks. Kevin ejected the spent clip, placing it into one of his uniform's pockets and fishing out for his other one. The giant flea lashed out with its appendages again, making Kevin step back, but he then slipped on some of the hardened mucus and fell painfully on his rear, dropping his clip.

"Aw shit!" He cussed as he started looking and feeling for the clip. Just as he was sure he had found it, the flea made its call to its brethren.

"Kevin, look out!" Ricky yelled.

Kevin looked up and gasped. Three fleas came rolling in his directions in a rapid pace. He started to stumbled up, but the insect monsters were getting too close and would surely smash him.

"Grenade!" He heard Ricky shout.

Upon hearing this, Kevin dived away from the fleas and in a few seconds an explosion followed. The three fleas were nearly obliterated, losing large chunks off their bodies and some of their intestines were lit in flames. The blast had even affected the giant flea since one of its legs had blown open, oozing greenish yellow mucus.

"Now's our chance guys! Let's get in close to it!" Kevin told his friends upon placing the filled clip into his handgun.

"Alright, let's take the bugger out and get the hell outta here." Mark agreed.

"Okay then. Go!" Kevin shouted.

The four survivors ran towards the flea, Mark and Kevin already opening fire on it with their handguns, dealing significant damage on it. David and Ricky ran past the two handgun equipped men and began unloading shotguns blasts on the flea's body. Aggressively the flea lashed out with its appendages, knocking both of the men on the ground painfully.

"You okay!" Kevin asked.

"I'm fine." David grumbled angrily holding his aching head.

"Me too." Ricky nodded. "But he's not…" Ricky fired again, but his shotgun only clicked. "Damn!" He scooped up a few shells from his ammunition pouch and began loading them into the shotgun's tubular magazine.

"I've got about one or two shots left. I'll handle this." David informed and rushed back towards the flea. "Cover me!"

"You betcha!" Kevin shouted through his and Mark's gunfire.

The flea attempted to now smash David with its appendages, missing the young plumber just barely. Staying sane and willing, David got close to the flea's face and fired twice into the flea's cranium, making it cover its face in pain.

"David, catch!" Ricky held his shotgun up like a spear and prepared to throw it.

This signaled David to strap on his empty shotgun and prepare to catch the incoming weapon. With a mighty throw, the shotgun came flying at David who caught it, slightly crouching from the weapon's weight. David nearly stuck the barrel into the flea's face and fired once, then a second time and a third time. After three instant blasts, the flea let out a pained screech and collapsed onto its front body, its rear legs still supporting it, but just barely. In a few seconds the flea's hulking mass fell off all its six limbs for good. David breathed deeply for a while, but afterwards sighed, letting his breathing clam down.

"Hey," David walked up to Ricky and held up the Remington. "Thanks."

"Nah, you needed it more than me anyway." Ricky shrugged taking Josh's shotgun back from David.

"Ya okay there Kevin?" Mark asked his young officer friend whose arm had been scrapped pretty badly. Blood had started to ooze from the scratches.

"Yea, besides George can treat this." Kevin replied.

"We better hurry it up or we might miss our tram out of here." Ricky spoke up. "We gave them around an hour to wait for us."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." Kevin replied. "And one more thing guys."

"Which is?" David asked.

"Thanks for getting me outta there." Kevin replied joyfully.

"Thought we were gonna leave good ol' you behind did ya?" Mark asked smirking.

"Not really. At least I now know you guys must like me a lot." Kevin replied rubbing the back of his head.

"You've kept us alive all the way to this point Kevin." David spoke up. "Everywhere we've been to for the past days of this outbreak, you always helped each of us get through this. Everyone, even our three new recruits who we met only yesterday." David spoke, briefly glancing at Ricky. "So… I just wanted to say that… well… you're a good friend Kevin and we didn't want to leave you behind." These last words sounded hard for David to pronounce. David had been a loner most of his late teen and adult age thanks to his past experiences and had ever since acted antisocially towards other people, only minding his own business.

"I'm touched." Kevin grinned. "Never thought I'd hear you saying something like that David."

David said nothing afterwards. He just walked past Kevin with his hands on his hips and began walking back to the tram.

"I agree with him, we should get going now." Ricky said to Kevin and also walked past.

"Yea, you're right." Kevin agreed. "Let's not keep everyone waiting."

The four men exited the tunnel, leaving behind the fleas' corpses into the darkness.

-

In the tram, everyone had intently been listening to the skirmish going down in the dark tunnel up ahead. They had seen many muzzle flashes and heard inhuman animalistic screaming and loads of gunfire, even an explosion came thundering up to their ears. It had died down only a few minutes ago, everyone's attentions still focused on the tunnel. If the skirmish was over, it could have easily meant that Ricky, David, Mark and probably even Kevin had won, but were they all fine or alive? This same question kept repeating itself in everyone's mind.

"You think they're all okay?" Cindy asked no one in particular.

"I'm very sure they are Cindy. I wouldn't worry about those four so much. They're really viable when it comes to combat."

"I'll admit that." Josh nodded. "Knowing Ricky he must have had fun with his grenades again."

"Sure is some strong stuff they put in those bombs of theirs." Jim nodded referring to the grenades Josh mentioned.

"It's just TNT." Josh began explaining. "But Ricky's grenades are larger compared to average ones, so they pack more of that stuff, thus giving them more of a punch."

"How can you know all this shit?" Jim asked astounded.

"My dad's taught me this." Josh answered the same he had told to many others tonight. "He's taught me how to be a real soldier ever since I was little."

"No way. How old are you? Sixteen, seventeen?" Jim asked.

"Fifteen." Josh replied simply and crossed his arms. "Why the surprised look?"

Jim was currently at a loss of words. He couldn't believe that some kid who was nine years younger compared to him, yet he could take out zombies and other large monsters like that. It's like meeting a prodigy, only this one was more like a small elite soldier he was talking to.

"No it's just that it's kinda surprising, ya know. Man, you better be proud to have a dad like that. For instance they way you owned those fleas out there, kickass kid." Jim said sincerely.

"Heh, thanks. Dad will like to hear that." Josh smiled, now that the atmosphere had brightened even just a little bit. "I bet if my mobile wouldn't have run out of power I could have called him to get us outta here."

This made Jim, George, Cindy and Alyssa glance at each other uncomfortably. Josh saw this and was starting to think he shouldn't have said what he just mentioned about his dad being abel to send in a helicopter to evacuate them. He had to apologize.

"I umm… I'm sorry if I…" Josh stuttered.

"It's not that Josh." George replied. "We just can't really leave the city just yet."

This startled Josh almost more than the sight of Nemesis. What was the kind doctor saying? Why couldn't they just leave the hellish town of Raccoon City. Was it the chance to rescue more civilians? That would be impossible with such little weaponry. Sure these guys were more than able to look out for each other with their special skills. Kevin being able to shoot better than anyone else, Cindy and George handling first-aid, Mark being a pro with melee weapons, judging how well he beat the hell out some zombies when they were rushing for shelter into this subway, David seeming to be good at close combat and the ability to use tools as weapons, Yoko being able to carry more in her backpack. He wasn't too sure what Alyssa and Jim could do, but that was none of his concern.

"Why the fuck can't you leave this hell hole?" Josh asked astonished. "I don't think trying to look for other survivors with what you're carrying to be quite smart or trying to find lost relatives." Josh spoke incredulously. "I know that was harsh but…"

"George doesn't mean that." Yoko halted Josh's last words. "What he means is that if we leave now, we'll only endanger more people."

Josh looked at the Japanese woman for a few good second. He instantly got the idea, at least he hoped.

"Ah, you'd danger other people around you with everything you know about Umbrella." Josh replied. "But wouldn't it be good if the whole world were aware of this so…"

"It's not that Josh." Yoko halted him again. "You know the virus that's causing all this?" Yoko asked.

How couldn't he know. Ricky had told Josh everything about the outbreak. A mutagenic toxin named the T-virus was the fault. But what did the virus have to do with… His eyes suddenly widened. "Y-y-you mean you're…" Josh stuttered the first words out of his mouth.

"Afraid so." George said solemnly and shook his head. "We're infected."

"B-but… What can you do now!" Josh asked, nearly shouting out these words. "How long have you been infected! Why are you actually trying to escape if you know you'll just transform sooner or later!"

"I can explain that." Yoko said. "We were infected thanks to Raccoon's tap water. You see, part of this outbreak began in the sewers. The virus was somehow released and it infected the city's water. People used the water for drinking, washing, bathing, anything we often use water for. The virus came in smaller doses than it does from a zombie's bite or scratch. So the infection rate itself is relatively un-noticeable." Yoko started explaining more, which actually interested Josh. He could learn new threats about these monstrosities and find a way to counter react if needed to, so he continued listening to Yoko's lecture.

"The T-virus's basic symptoms are first mild itchiness, which worsens as the infection spreads. Next is continuing hunger, in which the one infected feels like he must eat continuously, which is like a milder side of a zombie's never ending hunger for living flesh. After that, the virus will slowly start to effect on the cells of the brain. First cerebral symptoms are headaches. As days or weeks, or from some cases hours go past, it becomes worse and more unbearable. Also the virus will cause nausea to a few. When the cerebral damage spreads, it will start effecting on a person's awareness and intelligence, milder infections having the possibility to cause amnesia. After the brain has been infected, the infected person goes into a fake death state, in which the final transformation finally begins." Yoko explained clearly and not in a too complicated perspective. Josh understood fully what Yoko was telling him about.

Josh nodded after letting all that sink in. "So you guys are infected in the more milder manner correct?"

"That's correct." George nodded.

"How long does it take for the symptoms to worsen?" Josh asked half worriedly. These people he was talking to were good people and he befriended just about each of them quickly, so he could never bring himself to having to put a bullet in their heads if it came down to worse.

"Well, usually it takes weeks, even months for people with better immune systems, like let's say people like you or Kevin." Yoko replied.

"Also we have a resort to keeping the virus in check." George said. "We all carry Umbrella's anti-virus pills to keep the infection from spreading."

"Anti-virus pills?" Josh asked curiously. "What are they like?" Josh asked.

"Anti-virus pills are a special antibody agent that fights off against the T-virus infection." Yoko explained. "You know how humans have immune systems right? The antibody agent strengthens the immune system against the virus to slow down contamination. Since the mild infection we suffer takes so long to develop, the pills make the infection so slow, it will take far longer for the virus to have its more catastrophic effect on us.

"That makes sense." Josh nodded slowly as he had slumped forward supporting his head with one hand while the other rested on his knees. "But if there are pills that can do so much against the virus… is there a permanent cure?"

"According to Ricky, there is." George nodded. "I'm relieved Ricky actually told us it exists." George spoke. "Since the virus caused all this in such a short time, I was worried is a cure like that even possible."

"I'm relieved to hear that too." Josh said, the feeling of dread wearing away. "I couldn't bare to have to shoot you guys if you would have transformed."

"Umm…" Helene raised her hand up slightly. "If the tap water was one of the causes for the spreading of the virus… does it mean I'm infected too?"

George and Yoko both looked away from Helene. Fearing the truth, Helene turned to look at Josh, who stared back at Helene, but Josh the straightened himself up on his seat and looked down, as if his interest had gone to his USP handgun. Helene then turned to Cindy, who was looking at Helene with a sad expression.

"So it's true?" Helene asked everyone. "I'm also infected aren't I?"

"Helene," Yoko turned to look back at Helene. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the infection affected every citizen in Raccoon. The only ones here not infected are Josh and Ricky."

Helene felt as if her heart stopped beating. She had been infected for who knows how long without realizing it. How far had the virus spread into her person? Was she going to have a chance to make it out alive?

"Now Helene," George spoke softly. "Do not panic. Remember, you are infected mildly like we are."

"Yea but… what if it goes faster for other people like Yoko just mentioned?" Helene asked, a hint of panic seeping into her scared tone.

"Tell me Helene, are you sick a lot?" Yoko asked. "You know like colds and other viral diseases?"

"No. I haven't been sick for seven months. Even at that time it was just a cold that lasted for about three to four days." Helene replied, hoping Yoko's estimation would bring good news.

Yoko smiled very little, her often sad demeanor brightening a little. "You have nothing to worry about then."

Helene sighed, her body sliding lower onto her seat. "Thanks a million Yoko."

"No problem." Yoko nodded.

George dug through his medical kit and produced one of his many anti-virus pills. "If it makes you feel even better, I could give you one of these anti-virus pills to completely halt the virus's growth for a little while."

"Sure. Thank you so much George." Helene replied whole heartedly. She took the small oval pill from the good doctor. She placed it into her mouth and swallowed it, feeling its dry and hard texture as it slid down her throat, but that was nothing to be of concerned. At least her minor infection would stop for a while. "I'm really appreciated by this."

"It's not big deal." George waved it off. "I've got plenty more where that came from."

"Hey guys!" Jim shouted instantly, breaking up the heated conversation. "I'll be damned! They made it!"

"What!" Cindy arose from her seat. "Everyone?" Cindy asked.

"You betcha Cindy." Jim replied cheerfully. "See?" He pointed towards the four silhouettes. "All four of 'em!"

"Alright!" Josh exclaimed punching the air. "Way to go for those dudes!"

However a few of the surviving tiny fleas were making their way across the tracks towards the returning survivors. Though remaining confident the fleas couldn't catch up with them, Josh took it upon himself to help out. He rushed out of the tram, back outside into the humid air of the platform in case they needed cover fire.

-

Kevin, David, Mark and Ricky ran towards the tram. Though worn out and slightly injured, they were not even thinking of stopping. They could faintly spot a silhouette outside the tram, probably being on of the other survivors. The figure seemed to wave at them, affirming it was a human and not a zombie by any chance. As the four continued running, they could finally make it out in the dimness that it was Josh.

"Welcome back guys." Josh said happily. "We were all worried that you didn't make it. Guess we were wrong."

"You damn hell were." Kevin chuckled. "Everything been okay?"

"Yea, we've been fine all this time you guys were gone." Josh nodded.

"Well let's not keep everyone waiting any longer and get outta here." Mark said.

"Yea," Kevin nodded. "C'mon guys, let's leave this hell hole for good."

Josh, now accompanied by Kevin, David, Mark and Ricky entered the tram. Upon seeing the returning saviors and rescued companion, everyone in was ready to greet everyone with the warmest welcome seen in Raccoon those past days of hell.

"Kevin!" Cindy jumped up and wrapped her hands around Kevin's wide chest. "You're back! You're alive! I'm so…" Her eyes noticed the red smudges running along Kevin's left forearm. "You're hurt!" She gasped.

"It's nothing Cindy." Kevin smirked. "Though I admit it does sting a little." He said more bluntly.

"I think we should still disinfect and treat it." George suggested.

"Whatever you say George." Kevin shrugged and sat down next to the doctor and showed him his scrapped forearm.

"Been good while we were gone kid?" Ricky asked, assuming his previous seat next to Josh.

"Yea, yea 'pops'." Josh replied slightly annoyed.

"Don't go calling me pops kid. I'm only twenty-four." Ricky grumbled. He un-strapped Josh's Remington and presented it back to its previous owner. "Here you are kid. I did my best to save the shells."

"Thanks a million bud." Josh smiled from getting his powerful firearm back. "You probably want this back." He referred to Ricky's M4A1 assault rifle leaning close to Josh's feet onto the bench row.

"Do I ever?" Ricky replied and grabbed his trusty assault rifle and laying it on his knees. "And not a scratch on it even."

Josh groaned, as if hearing a slight insult. "I'm not a butterfingers." He muttered under his breath.

"So, ready to take us outta here Jim?" Kevin asked as George began wrapping a sterile bandage around his disinfected arm.

"Hell yea man." Jim nodded. "We're outta here." Jim turned the ignition switch on the control panel.

Instantly the tram came to life again. Its front lights lit up, casting a field of lighting forward. The light struck a few of the remaining small fleas. The tram began to move, going rather slow at first. It then in a matter of seconds began to pick up speed, flattening the fleas in the process. The tram drove into the exit tunnel, where the lights illuminated the many battered corpses of the fleas from the last skirmish, including the leader of the insect monstrosities.

"What the hell was that!" Josh asked taken aback by the monster's size, watching its silhouette as it disappeared from his sight into the darkness.

"Just a big bug, nothing we couldn't handle." Ricky shrugged with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Yea I bet…" Josh mumbled. He began fitting shells into his returned Remington and pumped it. "Say, was this any help?" He asked referring to the shotgun.

"You bet. David fed the fanny some good buckshots right in the face." Ricky explained briefly.

"Whoa!" Josh turned to David who was sitting next to Alyssa who Josh sat next to. "How'd you learn to handle a shotgun David?"

David didn't answer. He just stayed quiet, as if he hadn't heard a word Josh had just said. Josh stared at the man, blinking a few times before asking again.

"Uh, David?" He said in an attempt to hopefully make the plumber pay attention to him. "How'd you learn to handle a shotgun?"

David only glanced at Josh a second and turned away instantly. Josh, not being the most patient person in the world began to feel a tad annoyed by David's attitude.

"Try not to let him bother you too much." Alyssa spoke. "David doesn't talk much about himself."

Josh understood perfectly and sat back down. His curiosity however had still gotten the best of him. David was a plumber by his career, but it seems this enigmatic man was surely hiding something. But what? Was he really just a plumber? Could he be something else, a criminal perhaps? That possibility couldn't be discounted. Or what if this man was antisocial because of something personal? Also another possibility. However, not wanting to be a tight ass jerk, Josh had to forget about asking and he went quiet. He had been running around all night and it was now daytime.

"How far are we going anyway?" Josh asked Kevin.

"As far as this thing can take us from the central city." Kevin replied. "I'd say we'll be passing at least four stops."

"Okay. Wake me when we get there." Josh said and rested his head on the bench's backrest.

"Well, would ya look at that?" Kevin said looking at Josh who was already fast asleep. "He must've been tired."

"Yea. Let's quiet down a little." Ricky nodded.

"Helene, you should rest up too." Kevin glanced towards Helene who sat next to David on the other side from Alyssa.

"No, I'm fine." Helene promptly replied. "I don't feel like sleeping at all."

"I think you should save your energy for now Helene." George spoke. "I agree with Kevin that you should rest for a little while."

Helene brought up her legs and wrapped her arms around them. "I'm scared to close my eyes…" She spoke sorrowfully. "Knowing those things are out there somewhere… I lost my parents, grandmother and brother to them…" She began to sob.

Kevin mentally kicked himself. Now he'd gone and made Helene cry. He started to try and think of a plan to calm the girl down.

"Helene, if you want to get out of here and avenge your parents, you'll need your rest." Kevin spoke more softly. "Hey, if you're having a nightmare, we'll snap ya out of it."

"That's what Josh told me earlier…" Helene silently spoke. "…Okay… if I'm still asleep when we reach our stop, wake me up too." Helene then rested her head on her knees and reluctantly shut her eyes.

"Guess we're not gonna have any conversations now." Kevin thought as he brought up his hand behind his head and rested his head onto them.

The inside of the tram became quiet. No one said a word, only letting out weary yawns, a few coughs or just plainly shifted in their seats. Jim continued looking out the tram's front window to make sure when he should hit the tram's breaks. Alyssa had taken out her booklet and was writing things down. Mark was making sure his equipment was ready in case of a battle. David continued to plainly sit in his seat with his arms crossed and eyes glancing down at the floor. George was supporting his arm onto his seat's backrest. Cindy also plainly sat there quietly, in her mind feeling glad everyone was safe and in one piece. Ricky glanced around the tram to hopefully not get bored, his SIG pro resting his grip at all times. Everything was so peaceful, only the pounding of the train tracks breaking the silence. The quietness did not last long however… A loud thunderous rumble came from nowhere, startling everyone except for the two sleeping teenagers.

"What the hell was that?" Mark wondered. He turned to look through the windows behind him.

"Dunno… but I don't like the sound of it." Kevin replied, his gaze diverted towards the windows.

Ricky took a hold of Josh's shoulder and ruffled him. "Kid, wake up." He said while ruffling.

Josh groaned from weariness and opened his eyes. He semi-groggily lifted his head off the backrest and rubbed the back of his neck. "What's going on?" He asked.

"There's something out there." Ricky replied, diverting his gaze to the windows like everyone else. "And it's big."

"Helene, hey." David shook Helene by her shoulder. "Wake up. We've got trouble."

Helene woke up, not as groggy as Josh, but more like lightly spooked. She looked up and noticed everyone was glancing out the windows. The uncomfortable feeling of dread seeped inside of her upon seeing everyone's faces which seemed worried and scared.

"W-what's going on?" She stuttered.

The rumbling came again, even louder than before. This made all men excluding Jim to draw their heavy fire arms, grasping them tightly in their hands. They gazes didn't move away from the windows even for a second. The beast chasing them was out there, probably getting ready to strike out at any moment.

"Jim, when's the next stop?" Kevin asked, his tone possessing a hint of uncomforting. "We've gotta get outta here."

Jim hastily checked the chart in the driver's booth. He moved his finger around it to find their next destination. "Let's see… we're around six minutes away from Saint James."

"Then that's our stop." Kevin replied, continuing looking out the windows.

Silence followed again. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the moment. Either the monster in there was to come busting in or arriving at Saint James and run to safety. The zombies and other monsters were not inviting either, but surely they wouldn't be as bad as this thing that was down there with the survivors. The rumbling began again in a short while, startling everyone yet again. It made Helene yelp uncontrollably and Ricky was almost on the verge of pulling his assault rifle's trigger.

"I don't like where this is going." Josh grumbled, feeling his hands tremble while trying the best he could to keep his finger from pulling the trigger.

"Almost there guys." Jim informed, readying his hand on the brake switch. "Just three more minutes…"

"Is that thing trying to make us piss ourselves or is it even gonna show itself?" Ricky growled frustrated.

The rumbling came again, even louder than before. Now they were able to determine where it came from. It came from the right side wall of the tunnel. All wary glances turned towards the right side windows, waiting for the monstrosity to show itself.

"One more minute…" Jim was now fully prepared to start the breaks as soon as they'd come to the stop.

Instantly the rumbling got even louder than before, all drawn weapons going off their safeties. Everyone wielded their guns with sweaty trembling hands. The wall was suddenly burst through, sending chunks of concrete smashing through the tram's windows. No one was ready for this, suddenly getting their bodies pummeled by chunky bits of stone, making everyone inside the tram to duck and grunt in pain while holding the parts of their bodies that were hit by the chunks larger than a fist. The wall continued to break down until a monstrous abomination came into view in the darkness. A baggy snake-like object bust in and pushed on the train with massive force. Everyone tried their best to maintain balance inside the rocking tram, but failed miserably. Everyone either standing or kneeling fell hard on the floor or on top of each other. Screams of terror or grunts of pain came bursting out. The strange creature moved away from the train and yet again brought its body up against the train with more force.

"At this rate we'll never get to Saint James!" Kevin cried through the women's screams and the growls on pain.

"We're fucking dead!" Josh screamed.

The creature went farther from the train a third time and this time it practically soared towards the train. It collided with the vehicle, busting through the roof. The train rocked much harder and finally began to collapse. The force was enough to sweep everyone off their feet and a figure was thrown out of the train's left side window with glass shattering and flying everywhere.

"Josh!" Ricky exclaimed, but then was instantly thrown onto his back when the tram continued rocking.

The tram had gone past the stop and collapse, sparks emanating from the friction between steel and concrete. With an ea piercing screech the train kept sliding on its side until it got slammed onto a support beam and was flung forward in a spin and finally stopped…

A/N: Wohoo! A thirteen pager of a chapter! Go me man! Next chapter will be up soon since summer's only a week away. Be sure to read and review. Also I'd like to make an announcement. For those who are fans of nocotorro's Resident Evil based fanfictions, then you'll love the next chapter for it will have a guest star. Who you ask? Well you know. Thanks noctorro for giving me the permission if you're reading this. Bye for now. Until next time…


	12. Chapter 12: Alley War

Chapter 12: Alley War

"_In survival the people you're with depend the most. Survival must also be done alone, but if you're alone, you're more sure to wind up dead. I am alone, trapped in the aboveground hell. This time it's just me and them. My first war alone…"_

Josh's eyes began to slowly flutter open. He felt an enormous wave of pain bursting through all over his body. His eyes finally squinted open, the pain twisting his face into a wince. He lifted his head slowly so he wouldn't get dizzy, but this still made his cranium throb even more. His eyes shut tight and his teeth were gritted together, making his expression seem more pained. He managed to get up into a sitting position, rubbing his aching head with one hand and his back with the other. He opened his eyes to try and focus on his surroundings.

It looked familiar, like the same room he was in before. It was a train platform with the few lights illuminating the surrounding area. Josh then remembered what had happened. He was in the subway tram, he and everyone else used to escape, but then something had bust in through the wall of the subway tunnel and banged onto the tram with the weight of a tank or two. That's when Josh remembered when he was forcefully thrown out of the tram from its window. He could have sworn he was done for at that point, but he was alive. He started checking himself for any possible injuries. His backpack had softened his lading to a certain degree, all of his bones seemed to be intact thankfully and he didn't detect any signs of bleeding. All he got were a few bruises on his legs, head and left arm, which thankfully wasn't his better arm. His USP had slipped out of his belt, but it was right there in front of his feet. His Remington was also lying there right next to him since he had been holding onto it until he was knocked out. He picked up his firearms and rubbed his throbbing head one more time before standing up.

"Ugh… what a ride that was." He spoke, looking around his surroundings. The platform had metal scraps, glass shards and other rubbish sprawled out everywhere. From what he could tell beyond the platform were large tracings like from an oversized tank tread.

"Jesus, what the hell could have done that?" He wondered. Suddenly he realized something was missing. "Ricky! Helene!" He began calling out to his friends. "Kevin!" He walked around the platform, his head looking in any direction hoping to come across at least one of his friends. "Mark! Alyssa! Yoko!" He jumped down onto the train tracks and ran over to the opposite platform which seemed much more tidier compared to the one he had been lying on. "David! George! Cindy! Jim! Anyone!"

He continued looking around the dark train platform, coming over garbage, dust, scrap metal, but nothing else. He finally realized that he was alone…

"My god…" Josh whispered scared. "What happened to everyone else?" He didn't notice it, but both of his arms began to shake, almost loosing grip on his USP. "Are they dead?" He looked down onto the ground, his eyes widening. "That can't be… Those guys just can't be dead." He whispered.

The dreaded feeling of fear seeped inside him. Josh was now alone to fend for himself in the necropolis Raccoon City. Now without his friends he was much more in danger than he was in that big group. Armed with only a handgun and a shotgun and from what Ricky had told him earlier, there were creatures much worse compared to those zombies he had gotten accustomed to over the last two days. But even so if he were to survive he'd need more ammunition, not to mention better weapons.

"But I have to continue on." He sighed, teeth gritting together tightly. "It's not over yet. I'm still alive and I'm going back home. Zombies or other mutant sickos aren't gonna stop me." He spoke determined.

Now with his confidence slightly restored, Josh went up one of the four available staircases. But he had to second on that because once looking up, the staircase he was using was blocked off from the top with a makeshift barricade. Josh then turned away and took the opposite staircase which was open. Cautiously Josh crept up, USP pointed forward in case of an unexpected run-in with zombies. When halfway through the stairs, so far no sounds of groaning or the sick smell of rot. Josh went up the last step, coming to a familiar lobby, only this seemed much darker with most of the lights on the roof broken and flickering.

"Okay, no rotting bags of meat here." Josh thought, still trading forwards slowly and quietly trying to let out as little noise as possible.

So far so good, nothing was there to harm him. Josh put down his handgun and walked casually towards the exit. Upon reaching the top of the next staircase leading upwards to the exit, his only threat showed itself. A lone zombie dressed in a bloody police uniform lunged at him, but the cadaver missed its assault due to Josh sidestepping it. Not wanting to waste ammunition, Josh delivered a thrust kick into the zombie's back, the force knocking it forward enough that the zombie fell down the staircase Josh had just come up from. He watched as the zombie tumbled down the stairs, its arm twisting farther than what it usually was supposed to and finally collapsed into the darkness below. Josh just couldn't help but snicker, watching something that could have easily endangered him to fall so easily from a measly kick. It was just thanks to his current predicament which made Josh's counter assault effective. If the zombie hadn't come close enough, he would have had to shoot it. Currently he was pretty well stocked up on handgun ammo, but it wouldn't last forever. Josh continued walking towards the exit, coming up to yet another staircase that lead straight to the exit. Josh cautiously pushed one of the double doors open, met with a gust of fresh air and a dull grey shine.

Josh stepped out into the outside, the most hellish part of Raccoon City, but at the moment where he stood didn't seem so bad compared to those few streets he had ran through yesterday. The familiar sight of junked up cars, collapse lampposts, broken windows and the few zombies loitering around came back. Now with still being day, the street wasn't so dark, but still eerie. The few zombies started shuffling towards once sensing Josh's warm, living flesh. Still not so wanting to waste his ammunition, Josh tried to find a way out of this predicament. He looked around hurriedly, watching out for the zombies at the same time. That's when he found a suitable getaway. An alley that was closed off by a net fence. Normally it would be impossible for Josh to climb over that, but an old rusty dumpster was conveniently left right in front of it to serve as a boost.

"Sorry rot heads. Dinner's cancelled." Josh thought and made a run for it towards the dumpster. The closest zombies were only a few mere meters away from catching up to him, but the military fanatic was too fast for the rotting cadavers to catch. Upon reaching the fence and dumpster, Josh climbed onto the sturdy steel-made container and took a tight hold of the top of the iron net fencing. After that Josh boosted himself up with a jump and used his strength to almost fling himself over the fence, but he got stuck at the top, one arm and leg on either side, almost getting his jeans torn. He brought his other leg over the fence and fell down into the alley.

Josh felt he was safe for the time being, the fence capable to keeping the few zombies out. Josh walked onwards into the alley, passing under windows of the buildings that were split apart by the trash ridden alley. He was sure glad he didn't live in an apartment so close to another. Back in Shadow Acres his family had a detached house. His mother was often tending on her little garden in the backyard while Josh and his father would often train in the backyard, which is where Josh had learned a few of him moves. Another good add was Josh going to karate school, but some moves, such as a neck breaker was taught by Josh's father. Unlike most kids, he didn't play videogames or lazy around too much. He was a jock who still kept decent grades at school, mostly in subjects he was good in.

Josh's chain of thoughts was interrupted by a sudden sound of breaking glass. A female zombie fell down from one of the windows he had just passed by. Josh took a few quick steps away from it and aimed at the deceased woman with his handgun. The LAM mounted onto the USP handgun made aiming easy and with one shot through the left eye, the zombie fell dead for good. Josh then continued where he was headed, which was towards a right turn in the alley in which he could hopefully avoid any dangerous encounters and maybe dig out some information on how to dig up more info on how to escape the city. Surely escaping wasn't going to be easy, but it was worth it to at least try. Josh's planning came to short since a few more windows from both buildings separated by the alley had around five windows broken, a zombie falling out in a few seconds' time. Three zombies slumped onto the ground and slowly stood up, one of them fell and by a pathetic accident hit its head on the ground and broke its neck and one couldn't reach out of the window. Josh aimed his handgun at the three approaching undead. The closest one was a tall person clad in a basketball shirt and black shorts, both severely stained by its victims' or its own blood. The person himself had rotted beyond recognition, his nose had come off, the left half of his face was torn off, exposing the rotting purplish jaw sinew and the rest of his skin had turned a rotten grey color. Josh aimed up with his handgun and fired two shots, one first striking the zombie in the jaw and the other going between the eyes. The zombie fell forward with a thud and began leaking its own blood. The next zombie was a bit shorter and was also rotted so badly it was impossible for anyone to tell what it had looked like. Its head was practically just bone, a few straps of tissue and strands of decayed flesh. With another precise shot, Josh was able to down it fast, joining its other undead companion. The last zombie was less decayed compared to the two others. This zombie used to be a businessman judging from the expensive looking, though roughly torn suit. Also this zombie came at a quicker pace since it hadn't had time to decompose as much as it's two other brethren. Josh took aim again and fired, this time striking the zombie's cheek. The zombie itself retaliated by lunging forward so that it was dropped off its feet and it took a hold of Josh's right leg.

"Agh!" Josh growled attempting to pull his leg free. "I don't think so mother fucker!" Josh ferociously tore his leg free from the zombie's grasp and delivered a football kick that snapped the zombie's neck off its hinges. Josh panted a few seconds before sighing from relief. He was now more than sure what these zombies could do to him if he was not careful.

"A bite gives a worse state of infection." He thought, thinking back to when Yoko lectured him and Helene on the dangers of the T-virus. "Okay, do not, and I mean it, do _not_, be careless Josh." He shouted to himself mentally. "Off I go." Josh took off in a jogging pace towards the right turn into the alley. He figured if the zombies would be all boxed in his shotgun would work like a charm in there.

Upon reaching the turn, he pressed his body onto the wall and peeked over the corner. No zombies in sight. Josh walked into the turn and continued on carefully. He then came to a right turn leading between a red brick building and a pale gray, slightly shorter brick building. Only interesting thing here was the duo of zombies that stood there with their arms limp. Josh took aim from a distance, this time having to rely on the USP's aiming dots instead of the LAM since the distance between him and the zombies was too much and the brightness made the LAM's dot almost unrecognizable. He did his best to aim for the closer zombie's head. After steadying his aim, he fired and the zombie was only forced to stagger.

"Shit…" Josh hissed. The two zombies were headed right for him in their drunken kind of manner with their arms outstretched.

Josh took aim again and fired two shots, one striking the zombie's neck area and the other one pierced through the nose. The sheer impact of the bullets made the zombie topple backwards onto the ground. The other zombie stumbled closer moaning as if in anguish. Its arms were ready to grab onto Josh and tear away at his insides. Josh answered with a rushing kick onto the zombie's stomach that forced the zombie to fall back. Josh then ran up closer to the zombie and fired two shots into the zombie's head, leaving a large gaping whole due to two bullet holes close together added with the hollow eye socket on the zombie's face.

"The more I see these, the uglier they look." Josh shuddered at the undead man's features.

Josh continued forward where he was originally going since the highways would probably be too dangerous with the zombie population surely at its peak. The city had to have been infected a long time ago before he got there… He continued his jog onwards deeper into the alley. So far nothing had come up to attack him and a few measly zombies were not a problem he couldn't deal with. However, little did Josh know he had to worry about something else rather than just the zombies.

High above, something was sensing his footsteps. This thing, though not capable of seeing, pictured the human jogging hastily deeper into the alley, into its territory. The creature began pursuit, quickly, but quietly as possible. It quickly scaled the walls after the human, its claws digging into the brick wall, producing a clicking noise…

Josh passed a few more buildings, now having gone deeper and deeper into the alley. The fire escapes above cast thin shadows onto the ground, darkening the area. Josh had so far ran only into a few zombies he didn't bother to exterminate in order to save the well needed ammunition. Only time would he fight if it was unavoidable, such as being cornered or if he desperately needed to get past a group of zombies. Josh continued to jog onwards. He looked up towards a shadowed door in the end of the alley, possibly leading into one of the surrounding buildings or possibly out into the street. Only thing standing between him and the door was alone zombie standing besides an old rusty dumpster. Josh got in closer to the zombie which already was creeping towards him, sensing his presence. Josh fired a shot into the zombie's head, this time having better use of the LAM thanks to the shadows coming from above. Josh walked to the door and grabbed the knob, but it wouldn't turn.

"Damn!" Josh kicked the door. "It's locked from inside." He growled. Now he would have to go back the other way and head on forward. "Screw it, I just hope my zombie friends didn't start marching after me." He said and turned back, only to get caught by surprise by another zombie.

The zombie moaned in hunger as it tightly took hold of Josh's arms and brought its teeth closer to his neck. Yelping from surprise Josh immediately took hold of the zombie's shoulders and pushed it back. The zombie was strangely powerful as it was still getting close to biting Josh. Josh tried to think quickly on how he could get loose. The zombie was only inches away from biting, but Josh pulled his head back. Having his hands placed on the zombie's shoulders, Josh jumped up, and pushed his arms down onto the zombie's shoulders to lift himself higher. At the same time Josh brought up his right leg and managed to kick the zombie onto the lower jaw. The zombie let go of Josh and staggered backwards until it toppled while Josh landed on his feet. In his infuriated state Josh drew his crowbar from his belt and slammed its hook into the zombie's cranium, piercing through the skull into the brain. Josh breathed quickly from the ordeal, but calmed down a little.

"Dammit, that fucker almost got to me…" Josh thought. "If I'm that careless all of a sudden, what's gonna become of me if…" Josh looked up as if he had heard something.

Above in the shadows, the creature crept down towards the human. It felt the human's presence after hearing the skirmish and when it had just spoken. The creature slowed down its pace upon getting close enough to surprise its victim…

Josh swore he heard a clicking sound close-by. It could have been his imagination due to his lack of sleep, but somehow the sound felt so… real and somewhat threatening. He slowly looked upwards at the fire escapes that were the causers of the shadows in the alley. He then heard another noise. It sounded like a sharp hiss, like from some predator. He then felt something moist fall on the hair covering a small portion of his neck, something sticky… Josh instantly felt paralyzed as if this substance was the cause. In truth it was his nerves doing this. There was something there along with him, ready to strike. Josh's eyes spun wildly, a final attempt to locate this unknown creature. As his eyes turned right, they saw something pink and slimy hanging at his cheeks' level.

"Agh!" Josh cried and quickly sidestepped to the left, but it was too late, the object wrapped itself around his neck like a snake constricting its prey. Josh dropped his crowbar and brought his left hand to grab onto the slimy object that was attempting to choke him. The texture of it felt sickeningly wet and slippery, like a tongue. And with no guess, this had to be a tongue, a really long one at that.

Josh's teeth cringed together tightly as he felt the tongue tighten around his throat. His breathing was being halted every second and he couldn't move. His vision started darkening, his head began to feel light and he was beginning to slip into unconsciousness and sooner, to his death…

Josh could still hear as if the door behind him clicked and opened. Afterwards he heard a shot ring out, followed by a high pitched screech, like an animal's cry of pain. The tongue loosened around Josh's neck and was pulled away. Josh collapsed onto his knees and arms and began breathing deeply and coughed a few times until his vision was clear again and his head felt less light after each breath. While recuperating after the chokehold, Josh heard another shot from behind. He stood up as quickly as possible, the dizziness returning, but was able to stay up with a few staggers. He saw another living person in front of him: a man with fire red hair and was tall and muscular. He was dressed in a black t-shirt that hugged his body which exposed his physique and he also wore jeans that were bloodied. He was wielding what Josh identified as a Benelli M1 shotgun. The man's gaze was turned upwards towards the wall with look of hate. Josh looked the same way to spot something he would have never believed.

Clung onto the wall was a strange creature that looked like a human practically skinned alive. It has long arms with bone-white claws the length of kitchen knives and were surely much more sharper while its legs were more shorter, but seemed to assist in clinging onto the brick wall. Its spine seemed to be showing through its muscle tissue along with the scapulas. The most gruesome feature was its head with its brains showing, vibrating as its blood circulated into them. The creature let out a screech of anger, exposing its sharp teeth and its long tongue popped out, swaying side-to-side.

"What the fuck is that!" Josh asked horrified, either by the fact he almost died or by the creature's sickening features.

The man pumped his shotgun and fired again, but before he even got to pull the trigger the creature leapt off the wall, over the two humans' heads over to the opposite wall, the shots just scarring the wall where it had been. The creature turned towards Josh and the man and hissed with its tongue hanging from its mouth, saliva drooling off it as it flayed madly.

"Don't just stand there, shoot!" The man snapped glancing over at Josh from the corner of his eyes.

"Oh, right." Josh nodded and slid his Remington off with one fluid motion. He pointed the firearm towards the creature and pumped onto it.

The creature tensed upon hearing the click of the shotgun reloading. Now that josh noticed, the creature didn't have eyes. So did this mean this monstrosity relied on smell and hearing? Now that he recalled, when this man he just met reloaded his shotgun and fired, the creature leapt away as if knowing of the dangers of the Benelli M1.

"Those Umbrella creatures aren't all that stupid…" Josh thought as he tried to land a good shot on the long tongued freak.

The creature suddenly screeched as if giving out a homicidal war cry and leapt straight at Josh and the man. Before knowing what he had done, Josh fired and another shot rang out from the man's shotgun. The creature's jump became halted in mid-air when the shots knocked it down. The creature screeched again and shook wildly before all its limbs fell limp on the ground. Blood began oozing from the creature's corpse. The shots had blasted off the creature's left arm and its chest was full of tiny holes caused by the shots.

"Nice shot there kiddo." Josh turned to the man who looked down at him with emerald green eyes.

"Uh… Thanks. I guess." Josh replied unsure. "But thanks a million for saving me from that thing." Josh's tone changed from unsure to grateful.

"No biggie. I've seen enough of people getting slaughtered by these things." The man replied smirking. "What's your name?"

"Josh Ellington." Josh replied, extending his hand. The man took hold of it and shook it.

"Craig Crankurt." The man nodded and let go of Josh's hand. "But you can call me Cranky."

"Cranky huh?" Josh asked. "That's an odd name, but works for me." He chuckled. "I assume you're also trying to escape this aboveground hell hole?" Josh asked stating the obvious.

"You got that right." Cranky nodded. "I'm also looking for survivors and you're the first one to show up so far."

"There were more with me but I became separated from them, but I fear more if they died in the crash." Josh replied; dread slowly making its way into his tone. "I just hope Ricky and everyone else is okay."

"By the way…" Cranky spoke. "Have you seen a certain girl? About so tall," Cranky brought his hand up to his chest level. "Caucasian, blonde hair and is dressed as a waitress." Cranky finished picturing the person.

"A waitress?" Josh wondered. He then remembered a certain survivor friend back from the group. A cheerful young waitress named Cindy. "Was her name Cindy by any chance?" Josh asked, hopefully asking about the same person.

"Yea," Cranky's face brightened. "So you know where she might be?" Cranky almost eagerly asked.

"Unfortunately I don't." Josh shook his head guiltily. "I was separated from everyone including her down in the subway." Josh explained.

"Then maybe we should go look for them." Cranky suggested. "You have friends there and a person I want to find."

"True." Josh replied with a quick nod. "But I don't think going down there will be the best of options." Josh said, remembering the horrible situations down in the subway.

"Why's that?" Cranky asked.

"Well," Josh brought up his hand. "First: there's oversized insects down there." He said as he jerked up his pinkie, "Second: it's dark in the subway tunnels so who knows what's crawling in that blackness." He jerked up his ring finger to accompany the pinkie, "And third: we ran into some giant monster that was so strong that when it bashed our tram, I was knocked out of there by just the force." He accompanied the two fingers with his middle finger.

A surprised look was plastered on Cranky's face after hearing about the shit this boy in front of him had gone through. "But shouldn't we go rescue them?" He asked. "If what you say is true, they could be in some serious danger."

"I wouldn't count those guys out so fast." Josh replied casually. "There's four battle experienced men down there. Trust me on this one."

"But if we just move on, we'll get separated from them even more." Cranky said with a now more serious tone.

Cranky had a good point there. If he and Josh were to continue on from here, they would have risked a high chance of never finding the other survivors. But Josh's point of not going underground did have its benefits. Though the choices of having the fluids drained from your body or getting torn to shreds by zombies held no difference in a miserable, painful death. But, what if Josh and Cranky were to go the same direction where the tram was originally going before it crashed?

"I agree with you on that." Josh nodded. "However, I do have one idea where we might heighten the chance on finding those guys." Josh spoke, his idea seeming to be oh-so-perfect in his opinion.

"What would that be kid?" Cranky asked, waiting somewhat eagerly to hear what this boy had in mind.

"Why don't we head the way I came from?" Josh asked. "That's the way the tram was headed and if we're lucky, those guys might show up."

Cranky looked down towards the alley. He could hear the distant moaning of the undead out there. He had just thought he had hit rock bottom when he tried taking a shortcut through the buildings, ending up into an alley with a young boy there with him. Having no other lead on the waitress he had met a few days ago, he might have had no other choice.

"Alright then." Cranky reached into a sudden agreement. "Got enough ammo for that shotgun?" He asked, averting his gaze slightly towards the shotgun held in Josh's hands.

"Yea," Josh nodded. "I've got a pretty good amount of shells and plenty of ammo for my USP." He patted the handgun strapped into his belt with one hand while using the other hand to lift his shotgun up on his shoulder for support. "And if it comes to worst I can always use my crowbar."

"Sounds good enough to me." Cranky nodded. He pumped his shotgun so he'd be ready to lay down any zombies that might come their way. "Let's get going Josh."

The two survivors began making their way back to where Josh originally came from. They strode on in a fast paced walk, attempting to still be as cautious as possible in case of any more unwanted encounters with the Umbrella creations. Josh knew too well there were zombies hiding in the side extensions of the alley, having not bothered to waste his precious ammunition. Knowing of those strange skinless creatures he and Cranky just defeated, Josh was more than convinced he was going to be relying much more on his Remington 870 shotgun than before. Even an addition to his arsenal didn't sound too bad either. What he would now give to have in possession of an assault rifle, grenade launcher, magnum, hell he'd even feel much safer dragging a damn rocket launcher. The same zombies he had strode past from before had started to move, but they still possessed no immediate threat. Cranky and Josh decided the best option was to run past them.

"Okay, on the count of three." Cranky informed, getting a replying nod from Josh. Both got themselves into position to run like they've never run before in their lives. "One, two, three, GO!"

They broke into a full run, zooming past the undead with rapid footsteps. As the zombies were passed, the cadavers sluggishly turned and attempted to reach out to the humans who were simultaneously far out of the zombies' reach. Josh and Cranky continued running past the side extensions until they neared the point where Josh had come from.

"Stop!" Josh instantly shouted, both humans coming to an immediate halt.

"What's up Josh?" Cranky asked.

"I don't think we need to run fro now Cranky. We're out of harm's way for now." Josh said in a rather assuring tone, perhaps too assuring now that Cranky thought about it.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Cranky asked, not seeming entirely convinced what Josh was implying.

"Ya see that fencing over there?" Josh asked pointing towards the fencing to the far right with a few dead zombies lying around. "I climbed over that to get in here, so excluding the open opposite way, there's no other passage into the alley."

"I see, so you're saying there's a possibility the zombies only having this one small passage to enter the alley, excluding the ones already here." Cranky replied. He brought up his free hands thumb under his chin and began to think. "But if this is the case, that means if we run into deep shit, this our only way to escape out into the open."

"Well our other option would be to use the open street." Josh said, looking at the left turn, which was the only exit and entrance into the alley.

"The streets are way too dangerous." Cranky replied. "I know that since I've ran great distances around the city."

"Sounds like you really were up to looking for survivors." Josh replied with a hint of generosity.

"I was also looking for my brother." Cranky replied, his tone sounding a tad sorrowful.

"Oh…" Josh looked down on the ground in guilt. "Sorry if I…"

"No he's not dead." Cranky halted Josh's sentence. "I left him in the care of an Umbrella soldier. I just hope he keeps Kenny safe. I didn't feel right just leaving him, but I can't have him walking around here either."

"I see what you mean." Josh replied. "Your brother's how old?"

"Fifteen." Cranky replied promptly.

"Oh, I'm fifteen too." Josh replied. "Does he resemble you by any chance?" Josh asked, referring to Cranky's awesome physique.

"Definitely not. The kid should seriously eat more red meat if he even wishes to be like me." Cranky stiffened a chuckle. "You on the other hand really have some moves."

"Yea, it runs in the family." Josh replied. "My dad's been raising me into this my whole life. It's the whole 'like father-like son' thing." Josh shrugged. "Couldn't say the same about sis. I'm amazed she's still got one hell of a figure though she spent so much time revising even though she can kick anyone's ass in scholarship anytime."

"Sound to me like your sis is like some oh-so-incredible prodigy." Cranky replied, impressed. "How old is she anyway?"

"Twenty-three. She moved to Chicago just a few years back and I haven't seen her since. One thing I can bet, she's still probably a heavy book worm." Josh replied.

"So… Is she hot?" Cranky asked interested.

"Yea you can bet... Shouldn't we be moving and not talking about relative issues!" Josh asked, noticing they had been blabbering and not making progress like originally intended.

"Oh, whoops." Cranky smirked jokingly. "Let's keep going Josh."

The two continued on, past their only escape from the cramped zombie infested alleys. Feeling somewhat confident that they were safe from harms way at the time being, their pace was slowed down to a casual walk. Their eyes stayed sharp for anything out of the ordinary and their ears were listening to anything suspicious. The distant moans of zombies or random gunfire from far away was nothing new to the survivors' ears, having heard enough of it to get well accustomed towards it.

"Hey Cranky, can I ask you something?" Josh spoke, his voice covering the distant moans of hunger and anguish.

"Sure thing, what is it?" Cranky asked.

"Well, are you good when it comes to relationships by any chance?" Josh asked curiously.

Cranky let out a silent chuckle. "Kid, you've got the best man if you wanna know about relationships." Cranky spoke in a proud manner. "Let me guess: you want me to tell you how to win over a girl right?"

"Well," Josh mumbled, the strange feeling he had been feeling for a while now. "You see there was this girl I met here, called Helene. She's with the people we're trying to find and… ya see I… I for some weird, god damn reason started getting these weird ideas in my head."

"Ah, you dig her right?" Cranky asked wittily.

"Umm, well… I dunno." Josh sighed, Cranky's annoying comment being less as irritating as Ricky's in his opinion. "I just tried to protect her and keep her spirits up at hard times, and then at this one point she sorta… hugged me. Girls never show that kind of affection towards me, except the lusting kind." Josh explained, his head feeling strangely warmer all of a sudden, or maybe it was his jacket since Cranky didn't seem bothered by the slightly chilly weather despite having only a t-shirt and jeans to keep him warm. "I just wonder if it's too early to have feelings for someone you hardly know anything about."

Cranky continued looking forwards, silenced after Josh's words. He finally spoke, "Gee, that's a tough one." He said, sounding like the question had slightly strained his brain. "Sorry kid, but I for one got stumped."

"That's okay. I bet it's nothing serious." Josh attempted to shrug off the question.

"But you know," Cranky replied. "If you dig her, don't give up on it too early. Give it some time Josh." Cranky spoke resourcefully.

"What kind of help was that?" Josh thought. Sure, he did admit Helene was a good looking girl with that delicate face and the body of a supermodel from what the girl's skinniness told. She had those traits any guy his age would just love to get his hands on, but Josh himself never had been too interested in relationships. His number one priority was to stay in line, not take any shit from those bastards at school and not fall to Amy Tolstoy's pathetic enticements. The though of falling in love or getting a crush on an almost perfect stranger was not something Josh was not prepared for and he really thought hard on dropping it. Besides, he had better things to think about at the present time. Like wondering when the next rotting monstrosity would pop out and try to eat his brains or when something new and a hundred times worse than a zombie would appear. He had to stay sharp and shoot to kill anything unfriendly.

The stroll down the alley continued quietly. So far they only continued passing between wooden fencing placed on both sides of the alley with a few small buildings standing beyond them, probably filled with zombies or plan corpses. The thought of having those poor people die and have their site of death be their final resting place sent cold chills down Josh's spine. If only the citizens could have been prepared for this, if only their ignorance wouldn't have gotten the best of them for trusting those fools from Umbrella. All that happened was utter chaos and destruction. Now the once proud city had turned into a necropolis, almost everyone reduced into undead creatures that preyed on the remaining living citizens. The sky had been covered by dark grey clouds, as if a curse had befallen Raccoon City and was never to lift. That was the best way to picture it. Raccoon City was a town closest to hell.

"I can do more than imagine how much everyone hates Umbrella…" Josh thought thinking back to the subway. Helene's sobs repeating themselves in his consciousness. "Those bastards killed so many people, there's no way this can be forgiven. They must pay…"

"Something wrong Josh?" Cranky asked unexpectedly.

Josh suddenly noticed, his eyebrows had furrowed and his teeth were gritted together tightly and baring from under his lips. Thinking about all of Raccoon City's civilians' suffering, it had struck Josh so hard it was making him feel infuriated so much he couldn't help it. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily

"I'm okay," He replied. "Just thinking…"

"I see… I know it's horrible." Cranky's expression darkened.

"I don't believe all these people used to trust Umbrella, or even the fact the military did!" Josh spoke furiously. "What good would come out of making people suffer like this? If I'd choose what way I'd wanna go, I'd prefer a bullet in my head than being turned into a zombie."

The two got past the fence and were once again between the depressing grey back walls of stone buildings. Now they both had to stay cautious for the spaces between those structures could be hiding zombies, ready to lunge out to them and sink their teeth into Josh and Cranky's warm flesh. And there was the possibility of those strange skinless monsters hanging around, licking their teeth waiting for their next victim.

"Cranky, have you seen any more of those skinless things around here?" Josh asked uneasily.

"No, I haven't seen any all night. First one I came across." Cranky replied as he slowly crept onwards.

A sudden scream of anguish pierced through the ominous wind and moans of the undead, startling the two survivors.

"Holy shit! Someone's in trouble!" Cranky gasped.

"We have to go help him!" Josh said and ran past Cranky.

"Hey, don't go alone Josh!" Cranky yelled and ran after the teen. "It could be one of them!"

Josh ran as fast as he could, hearing the continuing screams and cries of pain and anguish along his rapid footsteps and the plastic parts of his backpack rattling on his shotgun's metal surface. If he and Cranky could make it in time to save the person in anguish, it would do them a great deal of good, but the screams began to die down, the victim probably dying already. Josh took a right turn in which his eyes met something that froze him in his tracks.

On the muddy ground laid a human being who had yelled out from anguish. Covering his corpse was a huge flock of black birds, probably crows from what Josh could tell. The birds were crazily pecking and scratching on the dead man's already bloodied skin and tore chunks of skin and sinew out with their beaks and swallowed them. Josh instantly felt a hard tug from his shoulder, looking up with a yelp to see it was only Cranky, who seemed to be in a rush to get away. The crows began flapping their wings and arose from their carcass dinner and were headed right towards Josh and Cranky.

"Run dammit! Those aren't any harmless birds you're looking at!" Cranky yelled and aimed at the mad birds with his shotgun and fired, reducing about three of them into nothing but black and red chunks. "Go, don't stand there like and idiot!" He pushed Josh forward to force him into a mad dash away from the crows.

Josh and Cranky ran as fast as they could with the flock of ominous crows following them, just like zombies, craving for their tender flesh. Cranky turned to fire another shot to hopefully keep the birds at bay at least a little. Relentless as they were and despite having a few of their brethren shot down, the crows continued their pursuit and were gaining on the two living humans with ease, having the ability to fly gracefully unlike how humans had to run from them. As the chase went on, Josh and Cranky had to dodge a few zombies along the way, which only facilitated the crow's pursuit. And if that wasn't enough, in front stood a dead end, with only a door as their escape from the ominous flock of flesh craving birds.

"Please don't be locked! Please for the love of god, don't be locked!" Josh thought while running with all the strength his legs had. If the approaching door was locked, then he and Cranky would have to resort to fighting off the mad crows with their shotguns, which would waste their much needed ammunition.

The door closed in on them in seconds, Cranky nearly slamming into the wall while forcing his hand to turn the door handle. His arm tensed as he pushed down onto the handle… and it turned! Cranky pulled the door wide open, letting Josh rush in first and afterwards he pulled the door shut as he entered. As the metal door shut tightly the crows banged onto the door and began relentlessly banging and scratching onto the metallic surface, but with no avail. The two human survivors braced themselves to stay up as they calmed down their quickened breathing.

"Whew." Josh sighed. "Zombie dogs, zombie crows, what's next?" He asked himself.

"Who cares? As long as we're in here and they're out there." Cranky replied solemnly. "But there could be something in here as well…"

"Please don't say that Cranky okay?" Josh asked frustrated. "It was enough running from flesh eating crows. I don't want to start thinking those skinless freaks being in here."

"It's a possibility Josh. Even finding a zombie in a locker is possible." Cranky replied.

"Whatever, let's just keep moving." Josh retorted and walked past Cranky.

They were what seemed to be a laundry room with four washing machines and driers placed atop one another into a neat row to the side. Besides them was a small wooden cabinet that surely contained the detergents, fabric softeners and other cleaning necessities. Left from the cabinet was a door that was used to enter and exit the apartment building's laundry room. The room felt so peaceful compared to most other places Josh had been in the city the past two days. But deep down both knew it wasn't safe anywhere. The whole city was a danger zone with monsters creeping up in every corner. Doubtfully having anything to do in the stuffy and dusty laundry room, Josh went through the door, followed by Cranky a few seconds afterwards. The door lead to a short dim corridor with a brown tile flooring and wallpaper that was brown from the bottom half and plain white from the top half. A single tubular lamp flickered up in the roof, doing a relatively poor job of keeping the place lit. There didn't seem to be any blood present here, so maybe it was possible the apartment's hallways were safe, but then again, what Cranky said about the possibilities where monsters could show up made it seem doubtful.

"Sure is dark." Cranky said, squinting to see in the dark. "Don't let your guard down Josh." He warned what did sound somewhat concerning, yet demanding.

"I've been through military drills dude, I think you might know that I can understand what to do in the enemy lines." Josh replied boastfully.

"Didn't seem like that with the crows." Cranky reminded bluntly.

"Well my dad's lectures didn't involve cities filled with undead monsters." Josh retorted, getting slightly annoyed from Cranky's attitude towards him.

"I haven't had any military training, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to handle this. Even with training you have to use your head here." Cranky replied calmly.

"I know that…" Josh ducked his head ashamed. "It's just that I haven't been able to think straight in all this. I'm afraid what I'm gonna run into that might just rush out and maul me to death…" Josh's face showed an expression of pain upon mentioning 'death'.

"Hey Josh." Cranky attempted to calm his new friend. "I get you're scared, I'm scared too, but loosing it just makes things worse. Don't let the fear get to you."

"I've tried. The zombies are nothing to me anymore, but those huge monsters I've seen around town and that one time I was almost infected, they rattled me up." Josh replied, still sounding ashamed.

"Hey, turn that frown upside-down at least a little bit. We got into this mess and we'll damn hell get outta this." Cranky lightly slapped Josh on the back.

Josh stayed quiet for a few seconds until lifting his head, seeming at least a little more confident he had just been. "Okay, then let's keep moving." Josh replied.

"That's the spirit." Cranky smirked.

The two walked out of the dark corridor and into the lobby. The left wall of the corridor had a staircase behind it and in front of that about a meter and a half away stood a door with a note on it.

"Think we should go outside?" Josh asked, looking up to Cranky's face.

"Well, I don't really see a point in staying here since the occupants are surely just zombies rotting in their dorms." Cranky replied bluntly. He walked up to the door and looked down on the note.

_Due to the riots in progress, all civilians must stay indoors and not leave under any circumstances. All doors and windows must be locked and sealed up and any contact to the outside I strictly prohibited._

_Raccoon City Police Department _

The note must have been pinned onto the door days before the outbreak had hit its peak. Ignoring the warning which was technically too late already, Cranky took hold of the door handle and pushed down onto it. He pushed the door, but the thing barely opened up at all. It only opened slightly with the ominous wind howling from outside, topped with the gurgles and moans of zombies. The door must have been nailed shut from the outside.

"Are we trapped in here!" Josh asked bewildered.

"Seems so. Now we either have to find another way out or go back where our little feathered friends are probably waiting." Cranky replied uneasily. "And frankly, neither of them sounds too inviting."

Cranky had a point. Going back outside with the mad crows would have been a risk to their health and would deplete their current amount of ammunition. The other alternative would also be dangerous with zombies and possibly something else crawling around inside the apartment building, surely including those monsters Josh almost got killed by if it hadn't been for Cranky. Josh began to think deeply, looking down on the ground with his left hand in a fist placed onto his hip while the other held onto Josh's handgun which was limply hanging in the clutches of his fingers. If they had to escape from an apartment building with the front door barricaded and the back door leading straight into a flock of crazy flesh eating crows, what was the third option? Josh had never lived in an apartment before, but he must have had to remember something obvious to use as a means of escape. In emergencies, like fires or such, the people had to be evacuated as fast as possible from the apartment… that's when it hit Josh in the face like a ton of bricks. Apartment buildings had fire escapes! They could just get inside a room and climb down back into the streets.

"Cranky, I got it!" Josh said with a hint of optimism. "Why don't we use the fire escape? If we can't leave through doors, we can just climb out and we can even get a good look at the streets if they're safe enough to at least walk in."

Cranky looked at Josh after pondering himself for a while. Josh's suggestion didn't seem bad at all. Since they were in a big city apartment, they often always had fire escapes, just like the buildings they saw outside before. It amazed him how such a simple question on escaping could cause such a ruckus in the first place.

"That's not a bad idea." Cranky admitted full heartedly, willing to try anything at this point. "Let's not waste time and get going."

The two instantly darted up the stairs to the second floor, the sight of white doors coming into view. The hallway had a pain lacquered wooden floor with the same brown and white wallpaper from the first floor. Lining the walls were white doors, which lead into the residents' respected dorms. Ready to start their escape plan, they ran to the right to find a room that was hopefully past the place in the alley where the crow flock attacked them.They came upto the last door, which had the numbers 004 printed onto it. That however was not their intended target. The apartment building possessed two wings on the right and left from what they could make out from the outside, meaning the building had an edgy U shape seen from above. Their intended target was the left wing where they would get past the alley and escape via the fire escape. The wall that separated the middle building from the left wing had another familiar white door. Opening it, Josh rushed into the left wing, Cranky following closely.

"We just pick any door and we're outta here." Cranky explained briefly and walked towards the next door a few meters away right in front of him. He took hold of the golden colored plastic doorknob and attempted to turn it, but the thing barely budged. "Aw hell, we'll just have to try another." Cranky shrugged and went for the next door.

Josh assisted by going ahead of Cranky and trying the last two doors at the end of the hall. Both of them much to dismay, refused to open.

"Aw crap, we'd need the keys to open these doors." Josh cussed, kicking the last door furiously.

"Nah, I've got a better idea. Just stand back." Cranky replied. Josh looked at him aiming his shotgun at the second door he checked. Cranky's shotgun demolished the door's lock instantly and caused door to vibrate enough that the counterforce caused it to open up slightly. "See, nothing to it." He smirked pumping his shotgun.

"Damn, why didn't I think of that?" Josh murmured walking up to Cranky who at the moment pulled the door wide open and stepped inside.

Inside the two survivors met another more relaxing sight. The apartment had a brown fitted carpet and plain white wallpaper and Josh could easily spot a fan in the short distance, probably being the living area. On the right side was a door, a turn on the left, leading probably into the kitchen, for after the turn Josh could faintly see a counter table. Up ahead in the living room were two windows, showing another grayish building from the outside, possibly another apartment or a hotel. Cranky walked forward, but instantly he was taken aback when a pair of rotting hands reached out towards him. Cranky leapt away from the hands and aimed his shotgun towards his perpetrator. After firing, an explosion followed, flames bursting from where Cranky had fired. He had accidentally hit the gas stove along with the zombie. The burning body of the zombie landed limply onto the carpeting while Cranky had ducked down, protecting his head with his left arm. Josh carefully peeked into the kitchen to see the whole thing in flames. An instant ringing noise emitted from the roof, indicating the smoke detector was set off.

"Nice one Cranky…" He said sarcastically, the smell of smoke wafting into his nostrils. "Let's get outta here before we're barbecued!"

"I hear ya!" Cranky hastily got back up onto his feet and rushed towards the window, followed closely by Josh who kept an eye on the fire which was spreading from the kitchen area towards the living room, the nearby couch almost touching the flames.

Upon reaching the windows, Cranky slammed one of them to pieces with the butt of his shotgun.

"You first Josh!" Cranky demanded.

"Okay… wah!" Josh cried out before he even got the chance to approach the window.

Cranky peeked over at the window bewildered to be almost face to face with one of the creatures he killed in the alley. It was hanging upside down from the window, showing its entire grotesque face, teeth baring into an evil grin. The monster opened its mouth, producing a hissing noise and its tongue slid out into a bent position.

"Cranky look out!" Josh shouted, quickly taking aim with his USP, but just then the creature's toungue shot out from its mouth right towards Cranky…

-

A/N: Another chapter in the bag. Are we pleased? Yes? No? Maybe? I appreciate noctorro for letting me use Cranky in this chapter. I tried keeping him in character as best as I could and this is the best I could do without Kenny around. Also this is the first time I'm using Lickers, and they're gonna become a pretty common sight in upcoming chapters. Also don't expect them to go down easily, for what I've seen from E-Z B's Darkness Arises story, Lickers will be just as bad in this. Summer vacation has just started, so I've got all the time in the world to write. Later, the adventure is far from over…


	13. Chapter 13: Twisted Monstrosities

Chapter 13: Twisted Monstrosities

"_Basic principals to survival are wits and teamwork. Something dad taught me a long time ago. I sure am thankful for that lesson. If I would not understand this, could I have gotten this far? The monsters may know how to fight as a pack, but can it match the heart and friendship between us humans?" _

The creature's tongue shot out at Cranky like a stone from a slingshot. As the overgrown organ flung at the astonished man, a gunshot rang out, instantly causing him to yelp and fall back onto his rear, the tongue slapping him slightly on his head, but it didn't deliver any damage except getting a bit of saliva in his hair. Looking up he saw the creature's tongue flinging back into its mouth while letting out a pained screech. Several more shots rang out afterwards, the creature's head tilting back roughly after every bang. The creature's head began bursting with blood and brain matter until it fell down from the wall outside the window and landed on the metal fire escape with a silent clang from the bones on its back and claws.

"That was so close I almost thought you were a goner…" Cranky shakily looked up at Josh after hearing that sentence. Josh's handgun's muzzle let out smoke and was still aimed at the window.

Cranky felt as if his heart had stopped beating. He was almost embraced by death itself when the creature shot its tongue out at him. Josh's retaliation had come just at the right moment before the creature's deadly organ would have surely pierced his neck. A lucky shot from a person much younger compared to him saved his life.

"T-thanks Josh." Cranky stuttered as he began to slowly rise as he breathed deeply from astonishment. He was truly grateful that he was alive thanks to his new friend. "I owe you big time for this man." Cranky said nodding.

"I owed you big from the time we met." Josh replied generously, referring to his first encounter with one of the sinewy monstrosities and Cranky. Hadn't they met up, god only knew what might have happened to either of them. "I'd say we're even for the time being."

"I wouldn't call that fair kid. Yours was a lucky shot." Cranky smirked, but his smirk lowered upon smelling smoke in the air around them. "Oh yea, the fire!"

The couch that had been placed close to the kitchen was already getting licked by the spreading flames. The carpeting close to the door they had come in through was also covered by small-sized flames and the corpse lying on it was only a heap of burning flesh and charcoal. The amount of black carbon smoke was building up rapidly and the air stank of the carbon produced from the burning materials.

"We better scram before we suffocate." Carnky spoke calmly. "Josh, you first and be on the look out." He said somewhat sternly.

"Roger that." Josh nodded. He ducked down and stuck one leg out of the window, careful not the hit his head, leg or groin on the small scraps of glass left in the window frame.

He could feel his foot on the skinless creature he just killed to save Cranky. As his foot made contact with the creature's limb his weight was making its sinew press downwards onto the bone, producing a sickening bubbling noise. Upon getting his head from under the window, Josh looked down to see blood gushing through the sinew, staining the metal grating under it. This made Josh grimace from disgust as he attempted to pull his other foot out from the window. His other foot swung down from the window and he hopped off the monster's corpse, the grating under his shoes vibrating lightly. Josh began scanning around his surroundings, getting a great view of the street to the right and a decent view from below. The street seemed almost completely devoid of anything, aside from a car crashed into a lamppost which had bent from the force. Also there were parts of what seemed to have been a barricade sprawled out on the street, as if having been rammed down or maybe even blown up. Also he was able to spot a few zombies standing there, rotting away their deceased bodies.

"It's looking good Cranky." Josh called out; however, his voice was the only thing that could attract the coming threat. Upon finishing his sentence, a silent clicking sound came out of nowhere, though not sounding all that appalling, the following hiss that followed could only mean one thing… "Then again…" Josh said more quietly than before as he looked up at the wall of the same building he and Cranky were currently standing in.

Josh spotted another one of the strange skinless monsters clinging onto the red brick wall, its body pressed against it to probably avoid falling. The thing was on the third level left from the above fire escape's grating. Josh's eyes widened from fear upon sighting another creature only a mere thirteen feet away from him. From what Josh had noticed from the past two encounters, these monstrosities only seemed to attack if he or Cranky had produced any noise. The creatures seemed to possess no eyes, so they must have relied one hundred percent on their sense of hearing and smell. The more noise Josh were to make, the more the creature would understand that he was right below it.

"Josh?" Cranky's head popped out of the window. "What's the matter?" He asked uneasily.

Josh hushed sharply, noticing as Cranky had spoken, the creature took a slow step towards Josh. If Josh were now to aim as best as he could for the creature's exposed brain, he and Cranky would be safe, but if these things just instantly began appearing in every turn, wasn't there the chance of there being more of them around? Josh now wished that when raiding the weapon shop where he and Helene acquired their sidearms, he would have looked for a suppressor. But how could he have known of Umbrella spawned creatures that attacked anything that made noise? And he was forced to flee with Helene due to the zombies busting into the weapon shop.

"Should I take this risk?" He asked himself in his mind. "Should I just go on and shoot the mother fucker and risk having more of them coming to hack my noggin off? Or should we try to escape quietly?"

"Josh!" Cranky whispered in a frustrated tone. "C'mon, what's the hold up! It's getting a little hot in here in case you haven't noticed!" Cranky glanced behind him, the flames almost engulfing the whole couch at the moment.

Josh looked at Cranky, with a shaken expression plastered onto his youthful face, cold sweat trickling down his forehead, to his nose, to his chin. Josh inhaled erratically as if he was chocking on this fear.

"Don't make any noise and come outta there." Josh whispered, his eyes glancing upwards to check if the creature was doing any approaching. "Skinless creep at one o'clock." He added pointing up.

Cranky's eyebrows rose from surprise. Swallowing the lump forming in his throat, Cranky as cautiously and quietly as possible, lifted his leg out the window, taking a step on the corpse of the other monster they had killed only a few minutes ago. Josh took hold of Cranky's hand in assisting him to get out of the burning apartment dorm. Cranky as slowly and delicately as possible pulled his shotgun along with him, careful not to bang it against the brick wall by mistake. Now both survivors were on the catwalk, observing cautiously what the creature was up to. The creature took another step towards Josh and Cranky. If they were to hurry, the clanking of the metal grating would let the creature pinpoint where they were, and if going as quietly and slowly as possible, the creature might still be willing to investigate with its sense of smell.

"We have to get the hell outta here!" Cranky whispered, "But how are we gonna keep big, pink and gruesome away?" He asked.

"I dunno. Let me think…" Josh took another glance downwards at the alley waiting right below. If they could distract the creature with something else, it might stop paying attention to them and give them more time needed to escape. Josh could see there weren't any good noisemakers down there. "If we could just distract it with noise, but there's nothing we could use."

"Josh, that's not our only problem." Cranky suddenly whispered with a truly frightened face, the color draining away from his complexion. "Look." He pointed past Josh's face towards the neighboring catwalk.

Josh glanced over at Cranky's pointing direction and saw that yet another creature was there, hanging right above the neighboring catwalk. The creature above hissed again and it then approached with two steps, starting to get cautiously close.

"We gotta do something and fast!" Josh almost felt like panicking right there, but he held tightly onto his humanity, because if he slipped up even a little, he would spell disaster for Cranky and for himself.

"Calm down kid." Cranky demanded quietly. "Just start going down the ladder and don't make any noise, or at least too much of it…" He said and brought up his shotgun.

Josh nodded reluctantly and took hold of the ladder next to the corpse of one of the creatures. With delicately placed steps, he silently made his way down to the first floor fire exit's catwalk. He looked up t Cranky whose attention was concentrated onto the creature above him. From what Josh could tell through under the upper catwalk's grating, the creature was moving again, closing more distance between itself and Cranky. The thing was surely going to go after him any second now.

"Hurry up Cranky!" Josh whispered, careful not to let the creatures hear him.

Cranky's gaze was still directed towards the creature, watching for any signs of movement. His shotgun rested tightly in his grasp, ready to pull the trigger if the monster were to get too close. He took a quick peek down, spotting Josh through the grating below his feet. Peeking up to see the creature not progressing towards him at the moment, Cranky cautiously moved over to the catwalk's ladder.

"Pst." Cranky hissed looking at Josh. He lowered his shotgun down from the ladder, telling Josh to take it while he climbed down for his shotgun didn't have a strap and using one arm to climb while supporting the heavy firearm would prove difficult.

Josh nodded and reached out for the shotgun. Unfortunately there was a few feet of a gap separating Josh from the shotgun. Cranky then shook the shotgun a little, trying to tell Josh something, but all he got was a confused expression from the teen.

"Catch it." Cranky whispered sharply, taking a quick glance back at the approaching creature, which had moved a couple of steps or so closer.

The confused expression subsided as Josh nodded understandingly and braced himself under the shotgun and prepared to catch it. Cranky let go of his trusty firearm and let it drop down. Instantly the gun was caught by Josh's hands, careful on not letting it hit the catwalk by accident. Sighing from relief, Cranky took hold of the ladder and quietly began to work his way down. However, as Cranky's scent was going farther and farther from the creature's sense of smell, it took quick steps towards Cranky.

"Crap…" Cranky hissed quietly and worked his way down faster. The creature's climbing pace only quickened when Cranky tried fleeing. Cranky hopped off the ladder onto the lower catwalk and pulled the shotgun from Josh's grip. "It's coming after us!"

The creature suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. The two humans kept their eyes trained onto it the next few minutes until it let out a high-pitched screech and began climbing down much faster. It's tongue starting to stick out from its mouth almost as if licking its lips in wait for a tasty meal.

"Die!" Cranky yelled as he instantly pointed his shotgun upwards and fired.

The creature screeched again, only this time from pain. A dose of shots met with its limbs and face, burning through its muscle tissue and causing great discomfort. Angered, the creature began climbing down even faster. While this was going on, the other creature above them at the neighboring catwalk also let out a screech and began making its way down too, as if coming to a friend's aid.

"Fuck…" Josh hissed and tore his handgun from his belt, taking aim at the farther creature. He fired two shots, both striking the creature, but the shots were not fatal as the creature only quickened its pace. Josh aimed at it again and let out more shots of hot lead. This time the creature took one bullet and dropped off the wall.

"Yes!" Josh hissed triumphantly pumping his fist, but his victory was short lived upon seeing the creature was alive and well. Its huge claws dug into the wall, only now being one floor lower from its resent spot, which happened to b the floor Josh and Cranky were on. Josh aimed once again, but then the creature slid down on the wall and began approaching Josh in a more quickened pace. Josh fired at the creature yet again, missing its head by a few inches and fired again, striking it somewhere in the face, causing the creature to lift its head and thrash it violently while letting out its pained scream. Now with the monstrosity distracted, Josh aimed and pulled the trigger for the kill...

"_Click"_

"Shit!" Josh screamed in disbelief. His handgun had run out of ammo at the most inappropriate time of all. He hurriedly emptied out the empty clip and began fishing his jacket's pocket for rounds.

The creature in return hissed aggressively, its extended tongue lashing out of its mouth and swaying it up and down. Josh grabbed a few 9mm bullets from his pocket and hurriedly began to shove them into the clip and taking a quick glance at the retaliating creature. Cold sweat ran down Josh's forehead upon knowing the creature had bared its deadliest weapon of all. Having stuffed the two bullets into his handgun magazine, he hastily fastened it into the magazine cache and took aim, right when the creature lashed out with its whip-like tongue. Time seemed to slow down for Josh upon pulling the trigger, the creature's tongue was getting closer and closer while the muzzle fire burst forth from his USP's barrel, the recoil kicking his hand upwards a little. The bullet whizzed through the air, sliding past the creature's tongue. At the same time the elongated organ from the creature's mouth was right at reaching Josh's forearm. The creature let out another screech and Josh yelled from sudden pain in his hand and forearm. The tongue of the creature whipped onto his forearm, sending a great deal of pain through the thin layer of his black leather jacket and black fingerless commando gloves. His fingers released their grip onto the USP and it fell onto the catwalk's grating with a clank. Josh clutched his hurting forearm with his other arm with a discomforted grimace on his face. The creature on the other hand plummeted off the wall and with a bloody splat, hit the hard ground below, spreading blood around its entire body. Josh looked down at the creature, still grimacing from the pain.

Cranky on the other hand pumped his shotgun for the third time and fired another burst at the other creature, but like the one Josh was fighting, it slid down the roof to avoid the shots. In return the creature lifted its body up and lashed out with its tongue. With well guessed timing, Cranky was able to evade it with a turn of his waist. He hastily pumped the shotgun again and without aiming fired in the creature's direction, this time landing the shot at the creature's chest, sending the creature plummeting down onto the ground. The creature fell onto the ground on its back. It laid there motionless and gave Cranky the idea he had killed it.

Josh picked up his USP while swaying his right arm to try and ease out the pain a little. He looked back at Cranky who was glancing downwards at the downed skinless monstrosity.

"Is it dead?" Josh asked, figuring it was safe to speak.

"I dunno…" Cranky replied. "Let's hope so."

The two continued glancing down upon the creature or its corpse, depending was it alive or not. The creature's mouth hung open and it four limbs laid spread out onto the pavement under it, as if the creature ad screamed out before dying. The creature's body suddenly came back to life, shaking its head in daze. No wanting to take anymore chances with these things, Cranky pumped his shotgun again and aimed at the creature while it was still recovering from its dazed state. With no mercy for the freakish organism he fired, the shots piercing its meninx and putting it down once and for all.

"Now it is." Cranky corrected casually with the threat over for the time being. "Let's reload and get as far away from here as possible." He suggested, getting an agreeing nod from Josh.

"How're you holding out on shells?" Josh asked, at the same time fitting more 9mm rounds into his USP's clip.

"Not too bad. Wasted seven shells down in the alley and six up here, so I'd say I have around… thirteen shells left." Cranky replied while he placed 12 gauge shell's into the shotgun's underbarrel magazine.

"It's not bad, but it's not too good either." Josh nodded in half-approval while with almost automatic movement of his fingers, fitted the last bullets into his handgun's magazine and afterwards placed it into the magazine cache. "I have around seventeen shells thanks to Ricky and I haven't gotten a chance to check through my handgun ammo storage quite yet." He added upon placing the gun's safety on. "I suppose we'll do fine for now." Josh's expression darkened slightly. "Unless something like Nemesis shows up…"

"Nemesis?" Cranky wondered.

"Big, dark and ugly with a rocket launcher." Josh pictured solemnly.

"Oh… Uh, suppose you have any idea how many of those things are there?" Cranky asked, not liking the idea of seeing what Josh just mentioned.

"Just one, but I suppose it died in that explosion." Josh replied, remembering when U.B.C.S member Mikhail sacrificed himself to save everyone from the leather clad monstrosity, closely following up to Josh, Helene and Ricky to windup at the Raccoon Hospital where they met Kevin and his varied group of friends. "But then again Jill mentioned she had tried to kill it so many times…" Josh thought. "Could it be possible it's still alive?"

"Well, I'm locked and loaded. How about you?" Cranky asked.

"Locked and loaded as well." Josh nodded. "Now let's get outta here."

The two survivors quickly made their way down onto the ground where the two creatures' bullet and shot riddled bodies laid motionless. There passageway leading into the ally was blocked off by a wooden fence, so they would have to go back into the alley, or they could try climbing it, since the fence was not that tall, only about four inches taller than Cranky.

"So, you gonna give me a boost?" Josh asked, knowing they were to head out of the alley.

"Sure thing." Cranky replied with a nod. He knelt down in front of the fence, letting Josh climb onto his shoulders. This made Cranky grunt a little from Josh's overall weight of his body, his backpack and shotgun. "You're heavier than you look." Cranky grunted while using all his strength to lift Josh high enough to get over the fence.

Taking hold of the fence and placing his foot over it, Josh practically hopped over the fence with one fluid motion. Upon taking immediate impact with the concrete on the other side, Josh's load's weight made him loose balance and almost fall, hadn't he reacted by thrusting his hands forward to take support of the sidewalk.

"You okay back there?" He heard Cranky's voice clearly through the tightly together nailed boards.

"Yea, peachy." Josh replied casually. He stood back up while at the whole time looking in either direction of the road for zombies or any other hostiles. So far only threats were the very few zombies loitering around the open. "Looks good here, come on over Cranky."

"Sure thing, but hold this for me." Cranky's shotgun rose out from behind the fence, tilting up diagonally. Josh grabbed the firearm and waited with patience for Cranky. In only a matter of seconds, Cranky's muscular figure dropped down from the fence. Josh stared at Cranky surprised, while Cranky just shrugged. "Piece of cake after getting used to it." He claimed and took his shotgun back.

"So, you have any suggestions?" Josh asked gazing forwards.

"Not at the moment I'm afraid." Cranky replied bluntly, eyeing at one of the zombies that slowly shambled towards him and Josh. "If we'd at least have a hunch on where to go right now, I'd be pretty damn grateful." He grumbled. "By the way, zombie approaching at two o'clock."

Instinctively Josh aimed his handgun at the approaching zombie. He did his best to aim at the thing's head to avoid waste of ammunition. When the gun's sights were in place in front of his vision, he fired, sending the zombie to a better place.

"Impressive shot there kiddo." Cranky said impressed upon seeing Josh's sharp skills with the small firearm. "Remind me not to get you on a bad mood." He joked.

"Don't worry. I'm a hundred percent sane." Josh replied in same manner. "But anyway, let's see if there are any subway entrances. The others could be down there or have taken maybe refuge in the surrounding buildings."

"Not a bad idea." Cranky nodded in approval. "C'mon, let's not lag with these guys around." Cranky said referring to the few zombies that were approaching, but due to their severely decreased speed, they presented no threat from their numbers.

The two jogged forwards to the street which had been blocked by a barricade now reduced to nothing but an open pile of metal and wood. Now in Dailey Street, the duo kept jogging while avoiding the few zombies that were in the area, a non arduous task. Whenever one got it the way, it could be circled with no effort due to zombies being almost harmless when alone or too far from its brethren due to their speed and insufficient intelligence. Zombies could only present danger towards humans in their numbers. If there were ten or so zombies, it could be best to get away as quickly as possible or dispose of them in the most effective manner, such as shotgun fire or explosives.

"The zombie infestation doesn't seem so large here." Josh spoke upon glancing at a far away zombie that was also drunkenly staggering towards him and Cranky, but once again its speed made the ambition impossible. "We must be pretty far from uptown."

"According to the map I have we're in downtown Raccoon City at the moment. The less populated area of the city." Cranky replied having checked the fold up piece of paper in his pocket before meeting up with Josh. "Good thing too so we won't have too much trouble with these things." He continued referring to the zombies.

"Hey, there's a subway entrance right there." Josh informed, pointing forward to a blue balustrade on the sidewalk. "Let's check it out."

Josh ran ahead of Cranky towards the balustrade. However, upon reaching it, Cranky could clearly hear a clear profanity escape Josh's lips.

"What's up?" Cranky asked catching up to Josh. He needed no reply for he could see with his own eyes what the profanity was about. The stairwell entrance to the subway entrance was blocked off by a steel barricade wall and several objects such as trashcans, metal barrels and girders placed atop it to keep anything down there from escaping. "Oh… That's not good."

"Tell me about it! What if our friends are down there?" Josh said exasperated. "There's no way in hell we can take this apart! And they can't take it apart from underground either, this thing weighs a few good tons." Josh furiously kicked one of the metal barrels, making it topple and roll until it stopped to a girder.

"Josh, take it easy!" Cranky snapped. "That isn't going to solve anything. And we can't discount the possibility of the others getting out some other way. Maybe they went ahead to the next stop or they could have possibly made it out already." Cranky said in a much more calm demeanor.

Josh sighed from agitation until letting Cranky's words sink in. "Yea, I guess you have a point." He replied. "I'm just worried about everyone's safety."

"So am I Josh. But we'll find them. Let's not give up and continue on." He said determined. However, his determination on finding the missing survivors took a nose dive down upon hearing an aggressive growl from behind him. He slowly turned to look behind with the color draining from his face. "Something tells me you shouldn't have yelled so much…" He said dryly.

Josh turned back more hastily with his gun trained forward, only to gasp from fright and let his face form to express his fear. Standing behind them were three once normal canines, now having their flesh rotting off their skinny bodies. From what the pop-up ears on two of them could tell and the black coloration on most of their body, these dogs used to be Dobermans before the catastrophe befell the city. Cranky hurriedly trained his shotgun in the zombie dogs' direction, ready to blast each of them to fertilizer. Josh began taking aim while the mad dogs slowly approached, blood and flesh hanging down their mouths as they strode. The most decomposed canine was first to rush out and leap out towards Josh, its teeth bared and ready to tear into his throat, but the dog was blasted into bits from one blast of Cranky's shotgun.

Being startled by the muzzle flash and bang, the two remaining zombie dogs rushed towards their prey, but Josh was prepared and took two shots into the first approaching animal while Cranky prepared to blast the other one to bits just like its rotted predecessor. The two shots sank through the dog's flesh, causing the decomposing canine to collapse from the impact while the other still continued it frenzied assault. Cranky fired again with his trusty shotgun with the impact knocking the dog several feet back, leaving a bloody trail of tissue and skin as it toppled and rolled. With the other dog recovering from its two new bullet injuries, it let out an aggressive guttural growl and lashed out in a mad dash. The only reaction from Josh and Cranky was to run from the canine and went separate way from the zombie dog's path, causing it to slam onto the subway barricade with its infectious blood splattering all over the barricade wall. Now having his chance, Josh ran at the dog and with as much force as he could muster, he smashed the dog's head onto the steel wall with his foot. The dog's skull and brain were crushed from the impact and marked the canine was never getting back up.

"The more I see these things the more I hate them." Josh growled with a look of anger on his face.

"Looks like one party pooper hasn't had enough yet." Cranky said pumping his shotgun. "I'll take care of it."

The still living undead canine got back up slowly after recovering from Cranky's shotgun burst, greatly rupturing its face, which was now less than half covered in skin, red and pinkish substance showing more and more. It rotting teeth and gums were bared into a demonic grin that made Cranky feel like staring into the heart of evil itself, but he was able to deal with it, having seen enough monsters for the past days. Cranky got in closer to the dog and blasted the rest of the dog's head with his shotgun, the dog's body kicking and shaking roughly until it fell completely limp with viral infected blood oozing from its wounds. Cranky pumped his shotgun and turned around and walk back to the waiting Josh. After taking the first two steps, he was suddenly roughly pulled by his shoulder, feeling pressure on his both shoulders and being yanked forcefully from behind. Cranky yelled from instant realization as a zombie had grabbed him and was pulling him towards its face to take a bit out of him.

Hearing the yelp, Josh stopped glaring at the killed zombie dog and glanced at Cranky. Seeing his friend getting pulled back by a rotting cadaver made Josh make haste while swiftly grabbing his crowbar from his belt. Cranky tried his best to keep the zombie's teeth away from him and not get infected by the same thing infesting the zombie's insides. With as much force as he could muster, Cranky elbowed the zombie on its gut, but it did little to help in escaping. Almost sure he was about to be bitten and infected, he could see Josh rushing towards him and the zombie, both handgun and crowbar in hand. Josh brought up his crowbar and with a mighty swing, he slammed it onto the zombie's left arm, breaking it in two and afterwards the zombie was met with a bullet to its cranium. The zombie released its grip on Cranky and fell dead onto the pavement. Still feeling pressure on his left shoulder, Cranky carefully felt on it to feel something cold and dry clutching him. Yelping he tore the zombie's hand off of him, threw it forcefully on the ground and kicked it away.

Cranky breathed heavily after the last skirmish, but a following gunshot startled him. Josh down another approaching zombie with his handgun and then aimed at yet another and took it down with two shots in the cranium. During the skirmish with the zombie dogs, Josh and Cranky had lost their attention on the zombies and now they were moving in for attack. Yet another one approached Cranky from the side, only to meet its demise from a blast in the head, decimating it completely from a bloody spurt. The zombies were coming in from all directions, in all shapes and sizes. Josh downed yet another with a well aimed shot in the head, then dodging a lunging one and kicking it back with a thrust kick. Cranky was dealing a lot of one-shot-kills with his shotgun, but since it carried less ammunition than Josh's USP handgun, he would have to reload very soon and with the zombies approaching rapidly, it would surely turn out as his fate.

"Josh!" Cranky yelled through the zombies' moans and gurgles, afterwards side kicking one zombie which then toppled backwards, bringing a few more zombies off their feet. "We gotta get outta here!"

"I hear that!" Josh replied while taking two more shots at one of the zombies and before the body could slump down onto the pavement, he rushed at it and with another powerful kick he sent it toppling towards the other approaching cadavers. "But where!" He asked hesitantly.

"Down there!" Cranky yelled, getting Josh to look over his shoulder. At first Josh didn't see anything out of ordinary, just the zombies and Cranky walking backwards with his shotgun trained at the zombies at all time. "Get over here! Pronto!" Cranky yelled demandingly.

Josh rushed over to Cranky. Cranky nodded down to point out is plan of escape: a manhole. Josh stuck his crowbar's hook into the manhole cover's small hole. He forcefully yanked the cover off, a terrible smell emanating from below. He cringed slightly from the smell, but he brushed it aside.

"Okay, c'mon Cranky!" Josh exclaimed, singing his arm signaling Cranky. He then stood up to prepare to climb down, but he instantly felt something grip onto his left arm. He yelped form surprise and tried pulling himself free from a zombie cop's grip. He jammed his handgun onto its forehead, but when pulling the trigger his gun only clicked. "Oh fuck!" He screamed terrified and furiously began pulling his arm, but the zombie's grip was so hard it proved impossible.

Cranky rushed to his friend's aid and slammed the zombie on the face with the butt of his shotgun. The force from the attack made the zombie release its hold onto Josh's arm, giving the teen enough time to position himself over the ladder and start climbing down hastily. Cranky followed soon after, blasting one more zombie down onto the pavement and pulled the cover over the manhole while descending. The zombies slumped down over the manhole and began pounding their rotting hands onto the cover, eager to feed.

Down in the darkness of the sewer, Josh and Cranky's feet were met with the cold, wet and smelly sewer water, wetting their pants' legs and sending a slight chill up their legs. Compared to being devoured by the zombies up above, this felt more like a luxury. The two could clearly hear them above, slamming onto the manhole cover trying to break in, but it was futile with the thick steel cover being more than enough to withstand their hands.

"Great hiding place Cranky." Josh blurted with sarcasm. "But I suppose its better than the zombies' stomachs." He said more gratefully than his last sentence.

"Got that right." Cranky nodded. "Only place I could think of in which those things can't get to." Cranky put one hand into one of his pockets and produced a small flashlight. He clicked it on, illuminating the small area in front if him, mostly Josh since he stood in front of him. "At least now we won't have to watch out for them."

"But Cranky, have you ever been in the sewers before?" Josh asked anxiously.

"No, why?" Cranky asked.

"This place is not safe either." Josh replied. "Last time I was here, we had to deal with a really big leech problem." He explained solemnly.

"Oh." Cranky instantly got a dreadful feeling from being down in the sewers. "If that's the case, we gotta get out through the first manhole we find. Agreed?"

"Totally." Josh nodded in approval.

The two survivors strode on in the direction they were heading above ground, the stone roof blocking off the moans of the zombies and any other aboveground noise. The only sound was the sloshing of the water while their feet moved, the water friction reducing their progress slightly. Only source of light were the small glow sticks attached to the walls and the small flashlight Cranky carried, pointing it forward to illuminate the space even more thanks to the glow sticks. Despite the lighting, the feeling of malevolence was bad as ever, just like any possible place in the city. Josh's progress was more slow than Cranky's since the weight he had been carrying on him was starting to finally get to him. Though usually tenacious when it came to physical activity, Josh also had his limits like everyone else.

"You okay there Josh?" Cranky asked glancing over his shoulder. "It looks like all that weight is starting to take its toll on ya."

Cranky was right. Josh's movement had slowed greatly due to him having carried his backpack and shotgun on his back for two days now. Still, Josh was not the kind to give up so easily, despite his movement hindered. "It's all right, I can handle it." He insisted.

"Let me carry your backpack." Cranky said, turning towards Josh. "If we run into something in your current state you'll just put yourself in more danger."

"No seriously Cranky, I can handle it." Josh convicted, but then Cranky took hold of the backpack's top strap.

"We're not moving on until you let me carry this." Cranky smirked in a brotherly sort of manner.

"Aw come on Cranky! I'm not a little kid!" Josh retorted annoyed.

"Well you don't seem like a grown-up to me." Cranky teased tugging onto the backpack.

"Let me go Cranky, we gotta move on!" Josh retorted even more annoyed.

"We'll move on when you can actually keep up with me." Cranky replied.

Josh finally sighed from defeat. "Alright, carry it then." Josh mumbled. "But give it back to me soon since most of my ammo's in there."

"Will do, don't worry." Cranky reassured and slid the backpack off Josh's shoulder and put it on. "Okay, now we may go."

The two continued with much faster progress with Josh moving faster than before now that the weight on him was reduced slightly, now only having his shotgun strapped onto his back. Being bigger and much more muscular than Josh, plus having only his shotgun, flashlight and map of Raccoon City with two of them being held at the moment, the backpack's weight felt like nothing to Cranky. Years ago in Osaka he used to be skinny and weak, pickpocketing from people for a living. However that one time he was caught, only for the reason his target was much more stronger than him. Swearing he would never be caught again, Cranky escaped the clutches of the police and began training every day in an underground gym in the outskirts of Osaka. In the age of sixteen, Cranky had grown from a scrawny kid into a big muscular person whose appearance already struck fear into his victims. Cranky lived in Japan, but being of a European ancestry, it made him stand taller than Asians. Now his strength was put into good use, helping people survive out in this outlandish and horrifying battle field.

"So Josh." Cranky said. "What are you gonna do when this is over?" He asked out of curiosity.

"I'm going back home of course, to Arizona." Josh replied casually.

"Mm." Cranky nodded. "I'm getting Kenny somewhere safe and probably stickin' with him for a while. I haven't seen him for around nine years." Cranky replied solemnly, but what could he do if he had been long separated from his little brother.

"That's long as hell!" Josh replied bewildered for that split second. "I could understand two or three years, but whoa." Josh spoke, bewilderment still present in his tone. "How'd you two split up anyway?"

"Well, it's a little hard to explain." Cranky spoke uneasily.

"Well, at least give me a few pointers k?" Josh said, eager to know.

"Well…" Cranky began to think for a few short minutes until thinking up a good tale. "We hit this little snag and he was taken here." He explained, though partly a lie, it also held little truth about a snag.

"What kinda snag?" Josh asked.

"Well…" Cranky had to think fast, but thankfully something caught his eyes to sidestep the answer. But then again, it wouldn't have been as bad as this. "I think we just got into some shit…" He spoke dryly.

Basking in the light of Cranky's flashlight was a white stringy substance attached to across the wall, forming a sort of web into the sewer passage. A cross shaped web, resembling much of a spider's. A really big one's that stretched farther into the dark passage. Just staring at the mass of silk sent chills down Josh's spine, the maker probably close-by.

"Just what we needed…" Josh gulped, clicking his handgun's safety off. His eyes scanned around his surroundings, the side, the front and the roof, so far, nothing in sight at the moment.

"Let's move on before the owner gets back…" Cranky spoke silently and approached the web.

"Wait Cranky!" Josh shouted, the dreadful feeling returning.

Cranky touched the silky substance, but he was instantly pulled back by Josh, right then a green blob hit the web he had touched. Steam arose from the silk as the blob ate through it, like acid.

"I think the owner hasn't gone anywhere." Josh spoke shivering as he did his best to train his handgun forward.

Cranky squinted his eyes to see if anything was moving in the silk mass. The web made it hard to see anything past it due to the silks stretching across the passage way in several places. The blackness and shadows hardened illumination with the flashlight. The two waited silently for anything to come out and listened for any movement. So far nothing came up. Cranky tapped the silk with the tip of his shotgun's barrel and pulled it back hurriedly before another dose of acid splashed onto it.

"Damn, now how are we gonna get past it without getting melted?" Cranky asked, hoping Josh could come up with anything.

"I do have one idea." Josh agreed and began un-strapping his shotgun and fastening his handgun into his belt. "We blast the owner out."

"You sure it'll work?" Cranky asked unsurely.

"I don't have any other." Josh replied shaking his head. "Okay, you hold the light ad I'll do the blasting." Josh trained his shotgun into the passage way, but since he wasn't truly aiming at anything other than the darkness and strands of spider web, he had no need to do any serious aiming. He pumped the shotgun and fired, the blast echoing through the passage way. The two then waited for anything to jump out. "Okay, double tuff." Josh pumped his shotgun again and fired another blast, the echo sounding through the passageway once again and the hot shots tore through the silk.

"Wait, hold your fire." Cranky whispered audibly. "I think I saw something…"

He squint his eyes again in the direction of his flashlight's illuminated area. Though not too certain in the darkness, he thought he saw something shine about thirteen feet away. The shiny objects seemed to be moving…

"It's there! The shiny dots!" Cranky exclaimed and pointed into their direction, signaling Josh to blast at them.

The objects in the distance disappeared for a split second, but then movement sounded, something like audible tapping on the wall's surface. Something was coming into view in the flashlight's illuminated spot, something big and brown…

"Holy shit!" Josh gasped.

Clinging to the left wall was one of the most hideous things Josh had ever seen in his life. Though nowhere as bad looking as the skinless creatures aboveground, the sight of this monster made Josh's skin crawl. It looked like a spider that was about half the size of a family car. It had brown hair covering its body, had thick legs and two large mandibles below its six shiny bead-like eyes, just like a tarantula. The spider crept forward tearing away at the silk in front of it while it progressed.

"Don't stare at it! Shoot it!" Cranky snapped, now that his attempts to shoot with his two handed weapon could prove disastrous if his flashlight were to stop illuminating the spider.

Not having to be told twice, Josh aimed as best as he could and fired a third blast, causing the spider to raise up its front legs and body. The spider's legs flailed crazily as it tore away more of the silk and then rushed at Josh. Josh hurriedly pumped his shotgun and landed another shot onto the arachnid, making it fall into the sewer water. The spider however was long from finished as its pushed itself back onto is feet and tensed backwards. In an instant it spat a wad of acid at Josh.

With a yelp Josh jumped back from the acidic projectile. Cranky then decided it was best to take a risk than stand there helpless. He quickly trained his shotgun at the spider with one hand and fired, causing the recoil to slam him onto right side wall and almost fall off his feet. He pointed his flashlight back at the spider to see it lying in the water motionless with pieces of chitin torn off its grotesque body, exposing its sickening insides.

"Nice going there Cranky! Doing a one handed shot with a shotgun!" Josh spoke highly impressed over Cranky's talent with his firearm. "You're unreal, even I can't do that!"

Cranky straightened himself off the wall panting, but still managing a smirk.

"I guess I just learn fast." He chuckled.

"You sure do man." Josh nodded. "Now let's get outta here."

"Let's just make sure there aren't any more." Cranky said, causing Josh to halt. He slowly brought the tip of his shotgun towards the web. He poked it roughly and quickly pulled back in case another acid shot would be aimed at him. He waited for a few seconds until he poked the web again. "It looks clear." He announced.

"Good, let's move on." Josh said and walked forwards tearing the strands of web out of his way with his shotgun and strode into the mass of spider silk, Cranky promptly following. But little did they notice the spider had one last trick the humans didn't know about. The spider's corpse shook lightly and it convulsed around its open wounds until a set of small furry legs stuck out from inside…

Josh and Cranky continued tearing through the masses of webbing while they trod forwards in the somber sewer passageway. Josh silently cussed upon getting some of the thing silk in his face and began tearing if off while using his other hand wielding the shotgun to continue tearing through the webs while Cranky provided the needed lighting form behind, brushing aside some of the webbing from his head's height and ducking a few times.

"That spider must have had a lot of free time to make this." Josh grumbled tearing web strings off his face.

Little did Josh and Cranky know of the approaching danger they had stepped right into. Something was scrambling through the webbing in rapid pace, using their sense of sight to spot the illuminated area ahead where the two surviving humans strode on, totally unaware of the stalkers' presence.

As Josh continued tearing through the webs, he felt as if his shotgun had hit something heavy. He walked forward a few steps until he saw a dried pained face right in front of him, twisted into a silent scream of pain and anguish. This made Josh step back in freight and almost stop breathing from the shock. He bumped into Cranky who helped Josh stay up on his feet, also horrified by the corpse wrapped up in the silk.

"Cranky, let's hurry…" Josh said shakily. "I don't like the look of this…"

"There couldn't have been only one spider…" Cranky said, glancing around for anything eight legged. Upon starting, he thought he had seen something move behind them, something small. He aimed his flashlight there and could faintly see something moving inside the web. "Uh, Josh. I think we should hurry…"

Josh breathed quickly upon hearing that, the spiders were probably coming after them and being in their type of environment, he swore they were not going to escape now. Upon turning back to where they were headed, he pushed the dried corpse out of the way. Suddenly one of those big spiders rushed out at Josh, making Josh scream from terror as the arachnid approached…


	14. Chapter 14: Insect assault

Chapter 14: Insect assault

The gigantic spider rushed out at Josh with its front legs lifted up in order to grab onto the horrified teenager. Its eight feet rapidly splashed onto the water with its six beady eyes locked onto its prey. Josh hurriedly moved backwards, but the spider's pace was too fast and it latched onto Josh's arms with its front legs. Josh yelled and kicked panicking upon ending up in the arachnid's clutches.

"Let go you fucking freak!" He cried panicking while rapidly kicking the spider's enlarged face. "Cranky! Help me!" He carried on.

"Josh!" Cranky gasped turning away from his recent activity. "Hold on!" He yelled upon rushing to his friend's aid.

Josh continued screaming, kicking the spider's face, and trying to tear his arms away from the spider's grasp. The spider's fangs were secreting transparent fluids, possibly venom to immobilize Josh and wrap him up for later, but due to Josh's kicking its mandibles were constantly forced back down. But it would only be a matter of time before Josh would give into fatigue and then he'd be easy prey for the spider.

Suddenly Cranky appeared from the side, stuck his shotgun's barrel onto the spider's face and fired with one hand, this time prepared for the kick of the recoil concentrated only onto his right arm. The spider's chitin was severely chipped off its body, and it let go of Josh's arms while stepping backwards due to the pain.

In his state of panic, Josh aimed his own shotgun shakily at the giant arachnid and fired, shattering more of the spider's chitin and sending pieces of chitin, hairs and guts flying. After pumping the shotgun, Josh fired yet another blast that completely decimated the spider's front body and sent more greenish spider guts and chitin flying. After convinced the spider was dead, Josh breathed quickly until he was able to calm down enough for a sigh of relief.

"You alright Josh?" Cranky asked concerned about Josh's state. "Don't go loosing it."

Josh breathed quickly until finally replying: "I'm still sane, but fucking more willing to give Umbrella a damn piece of my mind." He growled.

"Good to hear that." Cranky replied. "Let's say we scram before anymore of them… come." Cranky's attention was turned to the side when getting close to a stop in his sentence.

Josh gave Cranky a weird look, but Cranky didn't take notice of this. Josh swallowed the lump forming in his throat and slowly began to turn his head left where Cranky was standing. A smaller spider, around the size of a fist was hanging in their face level by a thread. Then another one lowered itself down next to the first one. Then yet another lowered itself almost onto Cranky's face, hadn't he pulled his head back. Instantly more of the smaller spiders were lowering themselves down from the roof or the top web straps in the silk mass they were all inside of.

"Aw, fuck…" Josh whispered dryly, sensing these spiders were just as persistent as the big ones. "Cranky, let's mosey out of here…"

"More trouble…" Cranky gulped glancing down at the recently downed giant spider with his flashlight.

More of the smaller spiders were emerging from the mutilated spider's corpse, climbing out of the wounds and gaps in the chitin. Some came bursting through the tissue in the giant spider's middle joint, letting out a sickening tearing noise.

"Run!" Cranky instantly shouted and pushed Josh lightly to give him a boost. The two survivors began running through the grayish silk mass as fast as they could in the sewer water reaching halfway to their knees.

No matter how many steps they took through the silk mass, those small spiders kept lowering themselves down on them and some just appeared in their way out of nowhere. It was like an arachnophobic's nightmare with spiders appearing everywhere, it didn't matter how fast you ran and no matter how many you had to tear off yourself and slam out of the way. The spiders kept appearing in a relentless fashion, determined to feed on these two humans. If Josh or Cranky weren't able to get out of the spiders' nest or find a way out of the whole sewer passage, they were sure to be poisoned and killed slowly and extremely painfully.

What seemed like and eternity spent running in the web maze, Josh and Cranky tore themselves through the thickest mass of silk and were met with the familiar green moss and algae covered stone walls of the sewer passage. The glow tubes bolted on the walls still did a poor job of illumination, but it was much more comforting than being stuck in a giant spiders' nest. The two supported themselves up by their knees and panted, bushed and out of breath.

"Now I know why mom hates spiders." Josh joked poorly, but somehow managed to smirk for a short instant before carrying on gasping and panting.

"Very funny…" Cranky said rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Do me a favor and remind me to stay away from these god damn sewers the next time." He got up and took a look around their surroundings. The passageway was now divided into two directions; straight forward and a left turn. "Okay, we'll go left." Cranky said in a knowing kind of manner.

"Why left?" Josh asked. "Aren't we supposed to be pursuing the other survivors?" He brought up their afore planned mission to look for Kevin's group of survivors.

"Yea, but getting into a shitty predicament on the main street again doesn't sound too smart." Cranky replied. "If we stick to the alleys and side streets, we'd be safer than on the main road." He explained his current ideas.

"Oh. Good idea." Josh nodded in approval. "But isn't there a chance there's more of those things we saw in the last alley?" He asked in intuition for the worst if they went back to the alleys.

"But if we waste our ammunition on the zombies on main road, we'll be in just as deep shit than with the skinless creeps." Cranky remarked. "We'll need our ammo for the future and wasting it all on the slowest and least dangerous creatures is pointless.

Cranky did have a point there. Josh didn't know half of what could have been out there on the surface. Having currently ran into zombies, zombie dogs, crows, the Nemesis, Leech Man, a giant leech, a giant crocodile, giant fleas, the strange skinless monsters and now giant spiders, what was the chance of those not being the half of it? There might be what, giant ants? Zombie squirrels? Anything was possible, just as Cranky had mentioned back at the apartment.

"Yea," Josh crossed his arms and nodded. "I get what you mean. Let's go where our heavy weaponry can be put to some good use if we have to." Josh said determined.

"That a boy." Cranky smirked. "And don't worry, with these bad boys, we can take out anything this city throws at us." Cranky spoke, seeming that he was truly emphatic.

"I dunno…" Josh whispered silently, thinking back how Nemesis withstood a magnum shot and when Leech Man wasn't even bothered by his shotgun's blasts. "It more like depends."

The two survivors took the right turn in the sewer passageway and continued their quest for survival. So far they had survived numerous assaults from the T-virus creations, but Josh still felt unsure on how long they were to last up on the surface. No place was safe and you had to be on your guard at all times, for the enemy was something mankind had never faced before.

The walk through the sewer continued incredibly quietly with no assaults or appearances of any hostile creatures. Only the flow and slosh of the water were the only sounds in the undergrounds, the walls and roof blocking out any sound from above. Glancing around aiming his flashlight anywhere he looked, Cranky was able to spot two rats resting on top of a section of piping. The rats did not begin to pursue them or show any signs of attacking. Cranky wondered if the disease which crippled the city was not affecting the rats. It seemed reasonable since the rats were not affected by the plague during the renaissance.

Continuing their 'harmonious' stroll through the sewer, Cranky's flashlight's beam found a rusty ladder leading upwards where a few small holes with light seeable through them.

"I'll go first." Cranky volunteered. "I'll call you if it's safe so just wait." He said bidding. First turning off his pocket flashlight and placing it protectively into the left pocket of his jeans. He took a hold of the rusty ladder and began ascending to the surface. Upon making it to the top he pushed the manhole cover open with the butt of his shotgun still held in his grasp while using only one arm to climb and hold on. Sliding the cover out of the way, Cranky took a peek around.

Instantly one of the many zombie dogs he'd seen around town charged out at him. Yelping he went back down on the ladder to dodge the incoming animal, but strangely it never appeared to reach the manhole, while its barks sounded clearly.

"You alright up there?" Josh called out concerned.

"Yea, don't worry." Cranky called back down. He slowly brought his head out the manhole and heard the dog barks even louder, but the approaching canine just barked madly as it tried to lash out. Cranky noticed the dog had been chained to a spout on the wall behind it. Letting out a sigh of relief, Cranky climbed up, careful about the dog around six feet away from him.

"Is that a dog up there!" Josh asked from the darkness below.

"Yea, but its chained! Nothing to worry about!" Cranky shouted back down. "Come on up."

Josh hurriedly climbed up the ladder with his Remington strapped across his chest. The dogs crazy barking made him nudge backwards, but seeing himself the thing couldn't pose a threat being chained to the spout protectively. Josh hastily came out from the manhole and kicked his wet feet in the air to get at least a bit of the sewer water out of his jeans.

The two had arrived into another alley, currently in a wide caged section with a doghouse, a food and water cup, and a few trashcans with one knocked over. The dog must have been some resident's pet and now it too had suffered thanks to the plague destroying Raccoon City. The dog's barking did nothing to go away. The zombiefied canine continued on with its aggressive barking and growling, gazing at the two survivors with its glazed white lifeless eyes.

Cranky began looking for the door of the cage, while Josh just stood there looking nonchalantly at the zombie dog. He was lost in his train of thoughts again. The dog, though not seeming to be bothered, except for the fact it was craving to lash out at him and tear him to pieces, he swore mentally that the animal was suffering. Everyone in this entire city had suffered. They're lives were ruined, no, destroyed thanks to the one company they so feared to oppose. Now everyone including Helene, Kevin, Cindy, Mark, Yoko, Alyssa, George, David, Jim and many more still living people had to suffer, not to mention be infected by the same twisted creation of Umbrella. Josh ejected his empty handgun's clip and filled it up yet again. He slowly lifted his handgun, aiming it at the barking zombie dog.

In an instant a shot rang out, startling Cranky who was busy untying a metal string wrapped around the handle of the cage's door. The barking finally died down. The dog was lying on the ground, a fresh new hole pierced into its forehead with viral blood oozing out while the dog's glossy white eyes still staring out at Josh. Josh wasn't sure himself why he did that. Was he indignant, resentful, pitying that he wanted to release the dog from pain? Josh put his gun's safety back on and looked down on the ground.

"Josh?" Cranky spoke in an uneasy tone. "You okay?"

"Yea." Josh replied quietly and solemnly. "It's just that…" He slowly lifted his head back up. "…the more I think of all this, the more angrier it makes me." He explained grimly. "All these people had to suffer for nothing."

"Josh," Cranky began as he slid the straightened metal string out of the cage door. "I know it's hard for you and all, but we have to face the facts. This happened; we can't do anything about it."

"I know." Josh replied with a nod. "But when all this could have been avoided and the city wouldn't have turned into a necropolis." Josh said while thinking of what the city was like long before anything like this had happened. People were enjoying their normal lives, going to work, taking strolls, being with their family and friends. All that was taken away from the poor citizens of Raccoon. Not wanting to think anymore. Josh turned and walked towards Cranky. "Let's just get out of here."

Cranky nodded understandingly and pushed down onto the door handle. He swung the door open, letting Josh go out of the cage first and he followed soon after. Immediately Cranky stopped, remembering something important. "Yo, wait a minute!" He called out to Josh.

"What?" Josh asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"We've forgotten to reload our shotguns. That's what." Cranky replied, patting the top of his Benelli M3.

"Oh, yea." Josh un-strapped his Remington 870. He held it up by its back grip and began placing 12 gauge shells inside the underbarrel magazine. When having the third put in, he felt no more shells in his left pocket. "Cranky, could you give me my backpack; I just emptied my pocket storage."

"K, just hold on a sec." Cranky replied fitting shells into his own shotgun's underbarrel tubular magazine. Once the thing was full, he pumped it and placed the safety on. He then took hold of Josh's backpack's shoulder strap and slid it off his back. He held it out to Josh.

Josh took the backpack with a nod. he set it down on the ground kneeling down. He zipped open one of the smaller pockets and took a handful of 12 gauge shells, stuffing them into his left side pocket of his leather jacket. He then used the backpack's remaining shells to reload his shotgun. He then strapped the backpack onto his back and pumped his shotgun, signaling he was ready.

"Alright, time to kick some ass." Josh said with a straight face.

"And hopefully it's not the other way around like last time." Cranky thought following Josh away from the cage.

The alley was situated between two rows of buildings like the last time, the dog's cage blocking off most of the passage to the street from one side, leaving only a narrow space which a zombie couldn't use to advantage. The opposite direction had been blocked off by a police barricade, indicating something could inhabit the alley. They took a left turn deeper into the alley to hopefully keep up with Kevin and his group. The ambition of the two survivors was to find a subway entrance where the other survivors could have possibly strode to underground, unless that thing that had knocked the tram off the tracks was still in the area. Was it even possible that any of them was alive now? Josh wanted to believe that and that was the essence that kept him going.

The two then saw two mutilated corpses, one lying sprawled out on the ground while the other was supported against the left side wall of a building in a sitting position. The one lying on the ground had been torn away at from the back, exposing all the grotesque tissue and bone while the head was missing. The other body was also mutilated, only from the chest and one of its legs had been twisted and broken. His dry blood marred face showed an agonizing yell, meaning his death was painful. In his hands rested a SIG Pro handgun while the other corpse had an M4A1 assault rifle lying ahead of it. From what Josh could tell, the sitting corpse was of a man from African descent and these men had worn green uniforms and greenish gray pants with knee pads.

"Must be U.B.C.S troops." He thought. He took the M4A1 on the ground and ejected its clip, finding it to be empty. "Perfect." He sarcastically murmured. He then went over to the sitting corpse and took the handgun from its opened palm. He ejected the clip, finding it having some bullets left inside of it. "That's more like it.

"You sure you can use that ammo?" Cranky asked uncertain.

"It's a SIG Pro. A nine millimeter, so it has the same caliber as my USP." Josh explained curtly.

"Oh, sorry." Cranky replied embarrassed. "Forgot you're the gun pro here."

"Why thank you." Josh replied, with more of a hint of pride and a very tiny sprinkle of sarcasm. He poured the few bullets from the clip into his pocket. "Okay, help me flip him over." He glanced at the lying corpse.

Reluctantly, Cranky took hold of the mutilated soldier's arm while Josh placed his hands to the soldier's less bloodied side. They casually flipped the corpse over, exposing the less bloodied chest of the soldier. They both searched its utility belt's many pockets, finding more 9mm ammo and two empty M4 clips, possibly spent in a fight. However, the next question was what they were fighting.

"What could've done something like this?" Cranky wondered, looking around the headless soldier's body. "I haven't seen anything like it…"

"Me neither. This is by far the grossest thing I've seen." Josh remarked. "Whatever did this must be packed with sharp things."

"Just what I was afraid of…" Cranky commented solemnly. "Let's get outta here before we're next on the menu."

"Yea." Josh nodded instantly. The two took off in a hasty jog so as hopefully not to get a glimpse of the soldiers' murderer. "If they couldn't stop it, what can we do?" Josh thought worriedly.

-

"Holy shit…" Josh gasped, leaving his mouth agape from the sight unfolded before his very eyes.

Cranky was in the same state, only he wasn't able to let out anything. The sight before the two survivors was something they were not going to forget for a while.

Laid out before them were at least ten more mutilated bodies, seven of them being common citizens while three of the rest were from the U.B.C.S. All of the corpses were ripped, torn and eviscerated in different manners. A few were missing limbs or a head, but all the claw marks and tracings were the same like the other two soldiers from before. The soldiers must have been leading the survivors to safety, three in the lead while the two stayed a few seconds behind to cover the rear. Sadly the entire ambition was thwarted by this unknown monster.

"It just couldn't have been the skinless monsters…" Josh thought horrified. If they encountered the killer of these people, they were not gonna last six seconds.

"Josh…" Cranky said silently. "We have to run." He tried sounding stern in order to block off his terrified voice, but it was clear he was frightened standing in the spot, the monster lurking around somewhere close-by. "We can't stand up to these things if we try fighting them. We gotta get out of here and fast!" He continued, just about ready to sprint off. "Follow me!" he exclaimed all of a sudden, bursting into a run. The yell served as an instant signal for Josh who sprinted only a few feet behind Cranky, his backpack shaking along his rapid steps.

Despite being slightly smaller and a tad skinnier than Cranky while having on a backpack and carrying a shotgun that weighed over two or three kilos, he was more than able to keep up with Cranky. The adrenaline inside him just increased thinking of the terrible demise these new monsters can bring upon him and Cranky in seconds. Dumpsters, garbage cans, trash and even a few lone zombies zoomed past. Just when things began looking a little bit better, Josh suddenly tripped on something and fell over, bruising his elbows.

"Cranky wait!" He called out quickly. He stood up, wincing from the pain in his elbows. Looking down at his jacket and jeans, they were covered in sand and dust. Josh dusted himself off when all of a sudden his eyes caught something at his feet. He knelt down to get a look at the object. He instantly jumped back up and away from the object with a terrified gasp. It was a human skull… the lower jaw and a few teeth were missing from it and it was coated in straps of tissue and fresh blood. What's more, pinkish and reddish substance was leaking form the eyes sockets and nose… They were close!

"Shit!" Josh cussed sprinting off again, but his escape was cut off when something jumped down in front of him.

Both he and Cranky gasped at the sight of this new monster before them. It looked like an oversized insect with thick, lumpy brown chitin coating it. Like all bugs it had six legs, but on the end of each of them was a trio of sharp bloodied claws. The creature's body had a hump-like thorax, a hideous deformed face with red insect eyes and a stubby abdomen. By pure instinct, Josh pointed his Remington at the new monstrosity and fired. But somehow the creature saw the incoming blast and evaded it by bouncing backwards, almost squashing Cranky in the process. Cranky retaliated by blasting the insect's backside, sending greenish blood flying from the severed chitin. The creature leaped turning around to face Cranky. With lightning fast motion, the insect got up on its hind legs. The insect let out a screeching roar as it began flailing its four other legs wildly and rushing out at Cranky with incredible speed.

Cranky tried backing away, but the creature came at him with the speed of a speeding moped. He almost stopped breathing when the claws were close to making contact with him, about to tear him to shreds from just the touch. Another blast was met in the demon insect's back and collapsed face forward to the ground. Getting his chance Cranky slammed the barrel of his shotgun into the insect's face and fired, obliterating it with a sickening burst of green slime, staining the barrel and his sneakers and jeans' legs. Panting from fatigue, Cranky collapsed into a sitting position, eyeing the decapitated insect.

"Cranky!" Josh leaped over the insect and knelt down besides Cranky. "Are you alright?"

Cranky looked at Josh with fear ridden eyes as he breathed quickly. He was close to joining those poor people they saw before. He gritted his teeth together and stuttered out: "Y-ye-y-yea…"

"Were you slashed?" Josh asked, scanning his friends for injuries, one of the first priorities taught to him if he were to survive in battle.

"N-no…" Cranky stuttered more calmly, but still felt shocked.

"That's great." Josh said relieved. "Can you stand?"

"Of course I can." Cranky snapped. He slowly and shakily arose back to his feet. "S-see, nothing to it."

"I'm just glad you weren't injured." Josh said. "C'mon, we gotta get outta here before…"

Before getting the chance to finish his sentence, another one of the hideous bloodthirsty insects leapt down from above behind him. Before Josh or even Cranky could react in any way, the creature rose to its hind legs and rushed out at Josh, trapping him into a full body hold with the top legs of the insect wrapped around his shoulders and the middle legs wrapped around his stomach. Josh screamed terrified under the pressure of the insect monster's hold. The monster attempted to take a big bite out of his cranium, but Josh was able to keep his head low and he kept moving his head from side to side to avoid the monster's large and razor sharp mandibles.

"No shit! Josh!" Cranky yelled watching his young friend fighting a loosing struggle with the monster, the creature having gotten a few close hits on Josh. Josh only survived those by a paper's width. Cranky had to do something before the fatigue would get to Josh and his cranium would be devoured. "Okay Cranky…" Cranky thought with his grip on his shotgun tightening. "…Time to bust up some heads." Cranky rushed out at the monster that still had Josh in its hold, though not having a bite taken out of the youth's head yet.

With a roar of rage and hate, Cranky thrust the barrel of the shotgun in the insect's throat, a few mere inches from Josh's head. From the pull of the trigger a blast rang out accompanied with a burst of green blood bursting from the insect's neck and back accompanied by its disembodied head. The body of the insect loosened the hold on Josh in which Josh tore himself out of them.

"You alright buddy?" Cranky asked Josh.

"Y-yea, I g-guess so…" Josh stuttered after the recent experience and the ringing in his ears wasn't making things any better. He rubbed his sore ears until she said: "Thanks Cranky."

"No time for pleasantries now." Cranky spoke urgently. "Let's get outta here before we're overran by those things.

"Yea." Josh nodded. The two survivors sprinted off deeper into the secluded alleyway and ran as fast as they could. Despite carrying more items than Cranky, the increased amount of adrenaline in Josh's body kept him going and since he was trained to withstand heavy loads.

"Don't fall behind!" Cranky shouted taking a quick glance over his shoulder.

"I don't intend to!" Josh huffed from fatigue, yet never willing to give in to the pain in his legs and back.

"At a… boy?" Cranky cried in a sudden stop almost toppling over.

"Cranky, what's…?" Josh tried asking, but his answer was right in front of him.

Yet another one of the insect monsters was in their path, busily cleaning out the last bits of flesh from someone's skull. Blood smeared all over its sharp mandibles and added with the red color of its eyes made the monster look more hellish than ever. After tearing away the last bit of the head's insides, it simply dropped it onto the ground and switched its gaze towards Josh and Cranky.

"Fuck!" Josh shouted in his mind. "I bet it's far from satisfied by just eating a head…" He gulped while trying his hardest to aim his shotgun, but the fear was making his arms feel weak and flimsy.

The creature then did its ballistic charge towards Cranky. The sudden rush of adrenaline made Josh stick his gun up and blast the monster's chest. The sheer impact from the shot knocked the hellish insect off its feet and made it spurt green blood through its cracked chitin. Upon clearing away the monster, Josh and Cranky ran off again, just a few moments before the insect monster threw itself back onto its feet. Being agitated from the burning pain in its chest, it was determined to get its revenge. It let out a high pitched shrill and afterwards climbed onto the wall of the left side building and gave chase.

"Your blast didn't kill it!" Cranky mentioned while running.

"Wasn't my intention." Josh replied. "We can't go on wasting all our ammunition on everything we encounter."

"I suppose, but what if it'll come after us?" Cranky asked.

"Well, if it's injured, maybe it won't have the strength to do so." Josh replied in a calm matter, remembering that unlike the zombies, the animalistic creatures; such as the fleas and the skinless monsters seemed to feel pain. Josh wasn't too keen on entomology, but he could guess the injury inflicted onto the insect monster's chest was able to keep it away.

Through their footsteps Cranky almost thought he heard something coming in contact with the ground about 4 meters behind them. He spun around but saw nothing there, just a turn to the right from his vision.

"Cranky, what's up?" Josh asked also stopping. "Is the fucker on our tail?" He anxiously asked, his finger hovering over his shotgun's trigger.

"Dunno," Cranky replied unsurely, also keeping his index finger right over his shotgun's trigger. "And checking it out feels too risky…" He emphasized teeth gritted together from the thickness of the air.

Cranky finally came to his final conclusion. He hugged his body against the wall and silently inched towards the turn. His head shining form cold sweat, he knocked onto the wall with his left hand. Nothing happened… He then reached into his pocket and dug out a quarter. He held it in his hand with the edge of the coin placed just between his index and middle finger while his thumb was placed under it. With a flick of his thumb he catapulted the coin out of his hand. The silver coin spun rapidly in the air until it met with the ground with a high pitched clink.

"Cranky…" Josh whispered. "I don't think insects can hear too well."

Cranky rolled his eyes from annoyance. He wasn't fully sure on Josh's hunch, but he decided to use another method to hopefully draw the monster out. He slowly moved his shotgun towards the corner until it went right over it. He shook the shotgun slightly, but nothing occurred. He shook it more forcefully followed by a monstrous shrill.

Right when having his shotgun withdrawn, the insect creature came scrambling from behind the corner, a few green droplets falling off its body. Cranky was fast enough to retaliate with a shotgun blast, crippling the monster's left sided front leg along with more green substance bursting out. Despite loosing one of its six limbs, the monster was still able to retaliate with a swipe of its right front leg. Cranky was able to jump back away from it while the creature fell on its face from loss of balance. Now with the creature immobile for a split second, Josh rushed at it and stuck his shogun's barrel in its face and fired, obliterating the head with a burst of green ooze and chitin chippings.

Before a word could be said, another shrill echoed throughout the alley. Both survivors stood on their guards back-to-back. Their eyes scanned the area they could face thoroughly, not even blinking.

"Where are they?" Cranky wondered, his eyes turning upwards in mid-sentence.

"I dunno… but they're close…" Josh replied with the same suspicion. Feeling uncomfortable enough, he couldn't stand it; he just had to find them. "Brace yourself." He ordered Cranky and positioned his shotgun to aim upwards.

Josh fired a purposed miss with his shotgun. All of a sudden two silhouettes dropped down from above. Josh and Cranky dove out from under the silhouettes, exposing themselves as two of the same insect monsters roaming the alleys. The next question was how would Josh and Cranky stand up to two of these things at the same time when handling only one of them together was hard enough since they needed to be immobilized by one blast and immediately taken out by the second. The creature didn't waste any time in their assault. One approached Josh while the other chose to approach Cranky, who were slowly stepping backwards, both having their shotguns trained at the creatures' heads.

"This is not good." Josh thought, feeling as if the insect's red eyes were staring right into his soul. The insect was surely going to strike at any moment. "I'm not letting you get the upper hand." Josh growled silently and struck first blasting at the insect's face. The insect cowered back shielding its head with its front legs and curling up its body. "Cranky! C'mon!" Josh yelled signaling.

Cranky now felt like exiting without wasting ammunition. With a leap he hopped onto the insect assaulting him, smashing his feet into its thorax which cause the monster to fall off its feet from Cranky's great weight. Upon jumping off of it, he also kicked the curled-up insect and made it topple onto its side. The two survivors then ran off once again, leaving the insects to care for their minor wounds which would hopefully buy some time.

The two couldn't continue blasting away at everything they came across in the alley if they were to reserve their ammunition for later purposes, but with monsters appearing at every turn, they could either run and endanger themselves more or waste their shotgun shells which would serve a better purpose against more powerful monsters if there was something else in the city they had yet to encounter. It could have clearly been possible that something as bad as maybe Leech Man or even Nemesis could be somewhere out there.

Josh and Cranky eventually ran into a dead end, with a door to act as their only available escape. Hearing the terrifying shrill of the two insect monsters pursuing them, Cranky took hold of the door and yanked it... The door opened! Josh rushed inside followed by Cranky who slammed the door shut behind him. He breathed fast and collapsed onto his rear. Josh also fell on his knees and panted both from freight and exhaustion.

"Think we'll be safe here?" Josh asked exhaustedly, having run so much for the past night and day.

"I highly doubt that…" Cranky replied bleakly. "They'll surely ram the door down as if it was nothing." He conjectured.

Josh looked at the opposite wall from the door and saw that it had another door, but the monsters outside could also bust it down with not much effort if Cranky's guess was correct. But… if they could reinforce the door they entered through, maybe it could buy them some time to escape. The room looked like a storage shed judging from the various cardboard boxes and a shelf filled with more of them. Maybe if they moved some of the boxes and maybe a shelf in front of the door…

Josh got straight back up on his feet and began tugging on the metal shelf, making it slowly inch his way.

"What are you up to?" Cranky asked glancing at Josh's activities.

"Barricading." Josh replied simply and continued tugging on the extremely heavy shelf. "Don't just sit there and help me with this."

"Right." Cranky got up and went over to help Josh pull back the shelf. Upon getting far enough from the wall it was placed next to, they switched sides and began pushing the shelve towards the door. The friction between the shelf's legs and the cement floor made an irritating screech.

They finally got the shelf pushed on the door, forming a temporary makeshift barricade. Getting ready to reload their shotguns, the survivors saw another grueling scene of Raccoon City. Hiding behind the shelf had been a dead man, probably in his late twenties. Unlike most corpses that sported a scream of agony before they had died, his eyes were closed peacefully and a handgun rested in the man's slumped down palm. Having suffered enough by hiding from the inevitable, he had put himself down. Another feeling of dread and rage built up in Josh's system yet again. Keeping his temper in check, he filled up his shotgun with 12 gauge shells. Afterwards his pocket had only two shells left in there and his backpack's temporary 'ammunition pouch' was starting to run short as well. Only plentiful ammo now was 9mm ammunition which was only compatible to his USP at the moment since Cranky didn't possess a sidearm.

"You ready to mosey out of here kid?" Cranky asked.

"Yea, I'm ready and…" Interrupting his sentence was a powerful crash on the door he and Cranky had entered the storage shed from. "…Shit!" He gasped instead.

"Let's move it!" Cranky rushed over to the other door opposite of the one that was being shook by their pursuers. He unlocked the wooden door and pushed it open, letting Josh run past him. Cranky slammed the door shut forcefully and ran after Josh, supporting his shotgun on his shoulder with one hand.

Now was the time to run for their lives was fully dependant on it. Josh and Cranky had to find a way out of the alleys where hopefully these strange insectoids were non existent or less existent than at this location. Though not able to hear it, the two monsters pursuing them had surely knocked down their makeshift barricade and possibly had knocked down the exit door along with it. Both running and fighting felt futile, as if death was inevitable. Josh didn't want to believe it. He wanted to see his family, his friends, his friendly neighbors the Driesens, hell even seeing Amy Tolstoy was heaven compared to this. The more weary he felt, the more futile it seemed, but the thought of death caused massive adrenaline rushes that kept Josh going. It must have been same for Cranky, though Josh not sure about his life, he surely wanted to be home with his brother he had mentioned earlier.

The running went on for around four minutes until both survivors came to a halt. The insects surely couldn't have sensed them from that far. The two glanced behind them just to make sure they weren't followed. Nothing hostile in sight, just a dumpster, a few knocked over garbage cans and a fallen spout. Sighing form relief, the two survivors continued their way by walking.

"Looks like we gave the big bugs a slip." Josh said nonchalantly.

"So the barricade actually held." Cranky added. "What'd ya say we get outta here and continue our search?"

"You can count on that." Josh replied with a nod. "For a minute there I actually thought we weren't going to make it…" Josh added, but then the silence was broken by a sound of breaking glass.

Glass shards rained down from above as another one of the insect creatures broke through one of the windows from an apartment room. It landed in front of Josh and Cranky and let out its terrifying shrill. The monster lashed out with both of its front legs, but the survivors were able to step back just in time. Before even getting their shotguns readied, the monster leapt high over their heads and landed behind them.

"You're not getting away like that you son of a…" Cranky growled turning to face the monster. Unfortunately for him the monster was faster in its attack and it rushed out at Cranky, swiping at him with its claws. "Whoa!" Cranky leapt back from the attack, but it managed to slam him off his feet and fall on the ground.

Josh countered with a shotgun blast into the creature's back, causing the oversized mutant insect to scurry backwards a few steps. The mutated monstrosity wasn't ready to give up, so it got up on its hind legs with lightning fast reflexes and charged at Josh flailing its clawed legs crazily.

Seeing this coming, Cranky blasted the creature in its chest before even standing up or aiming. The impact from the shots caused the creature to fall on its back itself.

"Time to go kid!" Cranky yelled getting back up and pulling Josh with him into yet another run.

The creature tried scrambling back onto its feet, kicking its six limbs madly like a toppled beetle, but with no avail. It finally figured to set its limbs on the ground and push itself up. Once it was back on its feet, it took off in pursuit after the two humans it was planning on tearing to shreds. With a shriek of pain it began pursuit, its claws chipping onto the concrete in rapid pace.

"Dammit!" Josh snapped and stomped the ground angrily.

The only available exit in the close distance had been blocked off by another police barricade wall. It was surely put there to keep the monsters in the alley and maybe earlier it was intended to keep civilians form entering the alleys before the outbreak had hit its peak. Unfortunately now Josh and Cranky would have needed an escape way and going farther into the alley through a right turn that came around ten meters before the barricade didn't feel like a walk in the park with the strange insect mutants appearing at random.

"Now we're going to have to circle through the alleys!" Josh swung his arms from frustration. "And I for one am not ready to get fucking butchered by bugs with meat cleavers for claws!"

"Calm down there Josh." Cranky said more calmly. "I sure as hell know the alleys are not safe, but we have no other options."

"I know that!" Josh retorted. "But those persistent bastards will just waste our ammo and I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, there are worse things out there!"

With a roar of anger, Josh kicked a trashcan that hand been turned over. The metallic container bounced form the impact and slammed onto the barricade, letting out a low pitch clank. The trashcan then rolled away from the barricade and stopped with a few wobbles.

"You should really learn to control that temper." Cranky solemnly said, shaking his head.

"No time for that." Josh replied more calmly, but still possessed a hint of anger in his voice. "Let's just get out of this alley and find those guys. After that we can take care of that one matter and get out of this hell hole."

"Huh? What matter?" Cranky asked curiously.

"The survivors need to find the cure for the T-virus or they'll make matters worse if they leave town now." Josh explained briefly. "That's why we gotta find them and search through any Umbrella related establishment. If Raccoon was in such influence with it, there's bound to be maybe some sort of secret facility where they're researching this T-shit."

"There's a cure?" Cranky asked raising an eyebrow.

"From what I could gather." Josh replied.

"That's pretty noble of what you're doing." Cranky said genuinely.

"Well, like my dad always says: "Always do the right thing."" Josh replied curtly, but with genuine sincerity.

"You're one honest fellow." Cranky nodded. "How about we carry on searching for the survivors?"

"Yea. We've still got a long and arduous road ahead." Josh agreed to the suggestion.

They took the right turn deeper into the alley where the shadows obscured the entire area. They had to hurry now and stay vigilant to avoid their insect pursuers that were probably lurking close-by. There could have been the other possibility of zombies and maybe those strange skinless freaks being present there. All the creatures were impassive when it came to slaughtering any living person that tread into their path.

Josh and Cranky both had their shotguns raised and scanned around any possible corner or dark spot like dumpsters and the insides of trashcans. Zombies weren't too expected to be hiding somewhere waiting for an ambush, but the skinless freaks and insects were a completely different case. They were ruthless, agile hunting predatory creatures and unlike any average living organism, they possessed much more stamina and were relentless as hell, even a shotgun blast wasn't enough to drive them away. The monsters had to be always taken down because of their unnatural ability to withstand pain.

The zombies didn't feel pain either being dead already with only their motorized functions and predatory senses still active, but their decaying structure made them a less dangerous foe. They could be easily taken out with a weapon such as a metal pipe or any other elongated tool like the crowbar. In the movies zombies only died from headshots or were immobilized by spinal injury which dispatched their motorized functions from their lower body. When downed, the zombies could be killed by merely smashing or kicking off their head.

Coming to a turn Josh aimed his shotgun into it like a sweeper. It was starting to feel if he was in some stealth rescue mission where all directions had to be made clear of the enemy. Making sure the turn was clear, he reverted back aiming the way he and Cranky were going, keeping the shotgun ready to fire at all times. Cranky was looking around too, only he had his shotgun at waist level, but it was good enough for a normal civilian since he had been surviving in the necropolis Raccoon City for a longer period of time than Josh. Like Cranky had aforementioned, even with military training, a person had to stay vigilant and cautious in a battle field, especially when the enemy was something humankind had never faced before.

"It's not looking too bad…" Josh thought, his aim not reverting for a second and his finger stayed right over the trigger, if he were to merely touch it he could blast anything that came his way. "Wait… is that a zombie?"

Standing there before the final turn before the exit of the alley was a person, or possibly a zombie, seeing as he or she stood there in a wobbly state. Josh strapped his shotgun around his chest and drew his sidearm, now keeping that aimed forward at all times. It may not be as strong as the shotgun, but its quicker firing rate made up for it. Before even getting close enough for the zombie to sense him or Cranky, a shotgun rang out of nowhere, startling Josh and Cranky. The zombie fell on its knees and prostrated onto is face.

"A human!" Cranky gasped and ran ahead of Josh who ran after him a few seconds behind.

The two approached the turn with a rapid pace, relieved to find a human for once instead of a monstrous abomination. However, the relief was short lived when another one of the large insects dropped down from above. From reaction, Josh began driving round after round into the monster. But the 9mm round were almost non existent to the creature. All it did was aggravate the creature and make it stand on it hind legs. Cranky was almost certain to see this coming in which he prepared to blow the monster's ass off with his shotgun. Right after lashing out, the monster was greeted by a hail of rapid fire… Rapid fire?

The monsters shook from pain as someone fired at it from behind with an assault rifle or anything else close related. The monster shrilled out before collapsing face forward into the ground with its six limbs sprawled out. Now the assassin was revealed. A figure clad in a uniform consisting of a dark green jacket, sandy brown pants with knee pads, black combat boots, a black utility vest and fingerless nylon gloves. The clad person had blonde short hair and had some stubble around his mouth.

"Ricky!" Josh exclaimed from surprise and glee.

"Huh? Josh, is that you?" The figure asked lowering his M4A1 Carbine assault rifle.

"God dammit! It is you!" Josh rushed over to the man and looked up at the scruffy pummeled U.B.C.S soldier. "You made it!" Josh was almost on the verge of giving Ricky a friendly hug, but he held himself back.

"Hey, don't give me all the praise kiddo." Ricky chuckled.

A familiar female figure emerged from the alley. Her long black hair seemed to be filled with dust and dirt, her face had dirt on the cheek and forehead area and he red long sleeved shirt and black jeans were heavily daubed with dust, dry blood and various other stains. In her hands she carried a Steyr AUG 9mm rifle.

"Helene! Thank goodness you're alive too!" Josh exclaimed gleefully. "I was worried you guys were dead."

"Nah we all made it. Not without scratches, but otherwise undamaged." Ricky answered negligently.

"But… where's everyone else?" Josh asked, seeing as no one else was present.

"They went through a different route while we went off looking for you. And speak of the devil we found ya." He then glanced at Cranky. "Who's your friend?"

"Cranky Crankurt, pleased to meet 'cha." Cranky replied extending a hand.

Ricky took a firm hold of Cranky's hand and shook it roughly. "Thanks for looking after the kid while I was absent." He said and released Cranky's hand from his rock hard grip which was surely able to snap a wooden pole in two if he really tried.

"It was no big deal." Cranky shrugged swaying his hand to return its circulation. "Was there a person named Cindy with those people you mentioned?"

"Cindy? Ya mean that waitress?" Ricky asked.

Cranky nodded. "Yea. Is she okay?"

"Yea, she's fine. Is she your girl or somethin'?" Ricky asked curiously.

"Nah, I just wanna find her and make sure she's alright." Cranky replied nonchalantly. "But I must admit she wouldn't be too bad."

"So Ricky?" Josh intervened. "You have any lead on that vaccine we're supposed to be looking for?"

"I couldn't really put my finger on it." Ricky began. "But Alyssa gave me useful information on the industrial part of town that has a lot of Umbrella related establishments. I'm sort of guessing they've got to have some research facility that should house info on that vaccine."

"That's a relief." Josh switched his gaze to Helene. "We gotta find it and cure her."

Helene remained quiet, looking at Josh through her somewhat sad eyes. She urged a small smile from Josh's concern for her.

"So? How bout we mosey out of this dump and get on with it?" Ricky asked.

"Great idea." Josh replied sarcastically from the obvious question. "Sooner we head off, the sooner we can get out of this shit hole."

"Well, I wish you guys luck." Cranky spoke up.

"You're not coming with us?" Helene asked.

"No, I gotta go find Cindy. You guys go on ahead while I'll go and stick with those other people." Cranky replied casually. "I'll be fine."

"But you can't go wasting all your shotgun ammo on everything you come across." Josh reminded.

Ricky took a handgun from his utility belt and presented it to Cranky. "Take this. I found it from the body of one of my co-workers. You'll need it more than us."

"Thanks." Cranky took the Sig PRO and fastened it into his belt.

"Take some ammo with you too." Ricky presented a package of 9mm rounds and presented it to Cranky, who then took the box and stuffed it into his pocket. "It has thirty rounds while the gun carries fifteen at full."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Cranky nodded understanding.

"Wait, you can have some of my ammo too." Josh intervened. He slid his backpack onto the ground and opened his 'ammo storage'. He dug out another box of 9mm round and held it out for Cranky.

"Hey, thanks a million Josh. That makes sixty rounds." Cranky said gratefully. Pocketing the second box. "Don't have a strap for this baby, but it's not like I can't carry it like this." He said referring to his reliable shotgun he had been fighting with through the entire ordeal.

"Well, good luck out there Crank." Ricky said, patting Cranky on the shoulder. "Hang tight."

"Yea, don't get yourself killed." Josh added.

"Not to worry, I can take care of myself." Cranky assured. "You guys be careful too, but now seeing as you guys seem to be armed to the teeth." Cranky smirked.

"Actually we're running low on ammo for my bad boy." Ricky said, taking a quick glance at his trusty assault rifle. "But Kevin said there's a shooting range nearby where we might find some more."

"Okay. I don't wanna keep you guys occupied with me, so how about we all get going?" Cranky said.

"Yea, we'll see ya off." Josh nodded in agreement.

The four survivors finally got out of the dark and dangerous alley into the trashed street with more demolished cars surrounding them along with bent down lampposts and other various objects such as trashcans. Even a few dead bodies laid there, consisting of SWAT officers and a few average civilians.

"They went west." Ricky informed Cranky and jerked his thumb at the correct location. "All the city's roads are set vertically and side-ways, so getting lost won't be too hard.

"Yea, I have a map to assist me on that." Cranky replied. "Well, be seeing you guys." He said one last time before heading west, or left from where the last three survivors were headed.

"See ya Cranky and thanks for the help." Josh shouted out so that Cranky could hear him.

As his reply, Cranky held out his left arm sideways and jerked his thumb up and continued on his own course.

"He seems like a nice man." Helene brought up watching Cranky head off.

"Yea, he's cool." Josh nodded. "If it weren't for him, I'd be dead already."

"Oh…" Helene went silent for a while. "What happened?"

"I was almost chocked to death by a skinless pink monster with a long tongue." Josh replied bluntly.

"You saw them too huh?" Ricky asked. "Damn…"

"Something wrong?" Josh asked concerned although he wasn't quite sure if he'd feel any more relieved from what Ricky might say.

"How many did you see?" Ricky asked urgently.

"Around five. Why?"

"Damn… that means there could be more." Ricky spoke gravely. "When my platoon encountered them, there were at least ten of them, and more just kept popping up every time we escaped from 'em."

"You're not saying there's really more of them?" Josh asked suddenly bewildered.

"That's exactly what I'm saying kid." Ricky continued his gravely lecture. "We gotta stay sharp more than ever now. And fighting those insects didn't make anything easier."

"You saw them too?" Josh asked.

"Yea. I was able to down them all right. With this." Ricky said patting his handgun, but it seemed different from the one he used earlier. He no longer used his Sig PRO, it was a SOCOM.

"Hey…" Josh remembered Helene using the exact same handgun. "Did Ricky find another one of them?" He asked himself. "Where'd you get that?" He asked.

"I gave it to him." Helene intervened. "I wasn't too good with that thing anyway, even with the laser pointer. So me and Ricky made a fair switch." Helene explained, drawing a Sig PRO fastened into her belt.

"Ah, I see." Josh nodded understandingly. "But you say there's a shooting range near by?"

"Yes, Kevin informed us of its location. We were given a map to assist us in its location." Helene explained.

"That's right. Let's head on over, borrow some ammo and maybe even a few guns." Ricky said, a hint of excitement in his tone.

The survivors continued on through the wrecked highway, with more hurdles to come. Now with new information on the vaccine and knowledge of a place to replenish their ammunition reserves, they are in for a long day of work. The race for survival continues…

-

A/N: That's it for the Josh/Cranky part. Now come the final chapters of moving aboveground in Raccoon City. Around six or so chapters will look upon how Josh and co. fair off against Umbrella's more powerful abominations still aboveground. Also I'd like to thank noctorro once again for giving me permission to use Craig Crankurt. Please review to keep me going. RE: Genome's still far from finished and now starts to come the part where the plot thickens. Until next time…


	15. Chapter 15: A gun for a claw

Chapter 15: A gun for a claw

"_Throughout this hellish experience there's only one thing I could think about: frustration. Those bastards of Umbrella created this necropolis playground for monsters. Now it's up to us, the only ones left to blow their asses wide open for their inhuman acts. Only time I'll come over this frustration is when Umbrella's six feet under. We can't let them get away with their irrationalities. Umbrella's goin' down big time."_

Josh, Helene and Ricky continued their arduous escape from the Raccoon City necropolis. Treading through the destruction marred Flower St., Josh and Ricky almost just for laughs took out any close zombie with a well aimed shot in the head.

"You certain this is the right way?" Josh asked.

"Yea, yea. Don't you worry about that." Ricky said without any worry. "We just head down this road until we reach Breton St. where we take a left turn and it should be there." Ricky explained, referring to Kevin's directions. "Once there we'll stock up on ammunition and luckily with some new guns." Ricky continued in a tad excited manner, "And then we continue down towards the industrial part of town. It won't be easy, so stay on your toes." He finished gravely.

"I'm not a liability to ya Ricky." Josh scoffed. "I've had enough experience handling with those fucking monsters and I've gotten accustomed to guns when I was a snot nosed brat."

"Whoa, did you make fun of yourself?" Ricky asked surprised. "That's something I didn't expect from someone like you."

"I hate kids." Josh replied curtly.

"Hey, they're not that bad. My cousin's got kids and they're really fun." Ricky responded. "Or is this something you picked up from your dad as well?" He asked half from curiosity and half as a joke.

"Gee, you think I'd look up to him so much if he would have hated me?" Josh asked.

"Just kidding with you there kiddo." Ricky chortled.

"Hey, Helene." Josh said glancing at his female survivor companion. "Loosen up a little. We've got a quiet stroll for ourselves. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts."

"I refuse to enjoy anything in this predicament." Helene replied curtly.

"Oh. But you still gotta calm down there. Stay tight like that and you'll loose your nerve before you know it." Josh responded unabashed.

"The kid's right there Helene." Ricky agreed. "We should calm our nerves before the hard part comes along."

"But the virus…" Helene spoke.

"Oh for God's sakes Helene…" Ricky sighed from boredom. "You've been going on about that virus in your body for who knows how long. I've said it before and I'll say it one last time. We'll find the cure for you and you'll be just fine. Okay?"

"Yea but…" Helene responded.

"But, but. That's the problem with you." Josh said. "You worry too much."

"For your information I'm carrying the same thing that destroyed the entire city! What reason don't I have to be worried!" Helene snapped at Josh.

"Don't you remember anything George told you? It'll take forever for you to turn." Josh replied, not a hint of worry in his youthful tone.

"Do you have to be so insensitive!" Helene scowled.

Ricky couldn't help but sigh from annoyance. He reached into his utility vest's chest pocket and took one of the anti-virus pills from it. He presented it to Helene.

"If it makes you feel any better, take another one of these." He said.

"Thanks." Helene nodded taking the oval shaped capsule and swallowing it. Yet again she felt the pill's dry texture rubbing her esophagus. "Okay, I feel much better." She added more collectively.

"What a relief." Muttered Josh relieved that he can have a pause from Helene's constant fears. "So, any idea how long till we get there?" He glanced at Ricky.

"Less than a mile." Ricky replied briefly. "We should be there in… oh, ten to fifteen minutes or so." He added glancing at his tactical watch.

"You think they'll have magnums?" Josh asked jokingly, but in truth he had been hoping for a powerful weapon such as a Desert Eagle, a S&W or anything closely related. Truth be told, he had fired with a magnum only once, almost toppling from the massive recoil. At least he was prepared to face it this time around, with his muscles always tense in dire situations, he was sure to stay on his feet.

"Who knows?" Ricky shrugged. "But preferably something 'bad.'"

"As in?" Josh asked.

"Hmm, let me think…" Ricky responded thoughtfully. "Well, a sub-machine gun wouldn't be too bad." He jokingly concluded.

"I doubt they'll have those at a shooting range." Josh said, keeping up to Ricky's humorous conversation.

"Hey Helene." Ricky looked at the depressed Asian. "Don't you have anything you wanna share with us? I mean, we're like the best of buds now."

"Well," Helene replied unsurely.

"Hey, nothing too personal is fine." Josh spoke assuring.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to say." Helene responded sadly.

Josh sighed from remorse. Helene's life had been turned upside-down so it was no wonder she didn't feel participating in his and Ricky's conversation. They had lost nothing, but she had lost everything that mattered in her life. He thought of leaving her alone for now and trying again maybe when they had gotten out of the city. But just then a thought came into his mind.

"Hey Ricky, didn't you say you were in SEALs?" Josh asked curiously.

"Yea." Ricky nodded. "What of it?"

"No, just curious." Josh replied. "So, what was it like? You know, being in a military unit a successful as Navy SEAL."

"Honestly, it was boring as hell." Ricky answered. "All we did was drills every week. There was no real action, no missions. Hell, I didn't get to prove myself as capable."

"And that's why you quit?" Josh asked.

"Well, sort of. You see, I had a personal reason for joining the military." Ricky replied. "Ya see, I have a father, a complete opposite from yours kid. He was a no good son of a bitch." Ricky began to feel exasperated towards his father, who was luckily locked up for life in a prison in Pennsylvania, the state he was originally from.

"Really? What'd he do?" Josh asked again, wanting to know more.

Ricky snorted from exasperation. "That piece of shit was always getting himself in trouble with the law. He went drinking all the time, kept getting himself thrown in the slammer. And every damn time me and mom bailed him out, he had to bash us! Mom shoulda left him in there to rot away." Ricky's explanation came out emphatically. "If it wasn't for that turd at least I'd still have a mother…" He grumbled.

"You mean?" Helene wondered. "That he…"

"Exactly." Ricky ducked his head. "My own father killed her. That sick son of a bitch killed her!" He looked down at Josh and Helene who both had surprised expressions plastered on their faces. "Oh… sorry."

"No, it's okay. You have my condolences." Josh replied shrugging off Ricky's sudden outburst.

"Thanks kiddo." Ricky replied. He instantly got the urge and ruffled Josh's hair playfully. "Ya know, you feel like a brother to me already."

"Oh, aren't I popular." Josh replied sarcastically smiling.

"And Helene, you sorta feel like a sister to me… in a distant way though." Ricky joked looking at Helene.

Unabashed, Helene managed a small smile, shortly followed by a soft giggle. This was the first time during these hellish days that Helene finally had the chance to have a friendly conversation with someone. Though barely knowing either of these two guys, she felt she could trust anything to them. Josh was serious, but optimistic, always looking on the brighter side of things while Ricky seemed as a caring man with a big sense in responsibility and was quite the joker. She had all the reason to be happy. For the past few days she had been forced to run out of her home, avoiding anything moving in the streets, knowing anything out there was going to lash out at her and eat her. With her family and friends gone, the only people she could rely on were Josh and Ricky.

"Hey, looks like someone smiled for once." Ricky said chirpily.

"Yea, and it's one hell of a smile…" Josh thought looking at Helene, her sorrow filled eyes still there, but they had a hint of happiness radiating from them. In Josh's opinion, Helene looked really attractive when smiling.

"Hey, c'mon kid now's your chance." Ricky said nudging Josh's ribs.

"Huh?" Josh wondered looking at Ricky who had a mischievous smile plastered on his face.

"Aw you know. Tell her." Ricky persuaded.

"Are you still going on about that!" Josh snapped.

"You know it's pretty wussy if you keep hiding it like that." Ricky replied teasingly.

"I'm not hiding anything!" Josh said in retaliation. "I do admit she's cute, kind, hell maybe even sexy, but let me get one thing straight here! I am not interested in her on that kind of basis!"

"Whatever you say then kid." Ricky said shrugging. "But in my opinion you two would make a great couple."

"What gave you that idea?" Josh asked somewhat interested in Ricky's opinion.

"Haven't you noticed?" Ricky asked surprised. "She's saved your butt a lot. Like that time with the dogs when your arm was injured and your aim was off? Or when she saved you from one of the big fleas down in the subway? Not to mention when she knocked that insect thing down with one shot from her AUG?"

"She did that!" Josh exclaimed taken aback. "Now _that_ is impressive!"

"It was nothing." Helene responded. "I like this rifle since it's so easy to aim with." She said glancing down at the Steyr she was currently carrying in her arms.

"But still, you're just a beginner when it comes to shooting, yet you landed a perfect shot." Josh replied sincerely. "You must have found your calling."

"No." Helene shook her head. "War and guns are terrible. When I escape I'll avoid them as much as possible."

"Well, we never had a choice." Josh admitted. "Once everyone was stuck here, there was no chance but to fight or die."

"That sounded pretty harsh, but I see the point." Ricky replied solemnly. "It was a terrible tragedy that all this had to happen. What makes it worse it was cause by my employer." Ricky couldn't help but growl mentioning employer.

Once again Umbrella was brought into the conversation. Whenever just something involving it was mentioned, it filled all three survivors with hate towards everything they had done to the poor citizens of Raccoon City. Their mission, everyone who survived had to find something to put a stop to Umbrella's hellish activities once and for all. With the current destination being an Umbrella facility, they now had the best chance of finding vital information regarding this incident and expose it to the world. There was absolutely no way Umbrella could talk its way out of that once their real face and intentions were revealed. It would surely become formally suspended for their actions.

The tread towards the weapon shop continued with little trouble. A few zombies had to be taken down to ensure safety, but with accurate headshots they were easily disposed of. They were far from central Raccoon where the population was its highest in the entire city. But it still proved that even the outskirts or less populated areas were not dangerous. The survivors had to remember that no matter how slow, dumb and frail zombies were, their bite and scratch would lead to catastrophic consequences. If anyone was to be bitten, they would transform in a much faster pace than Helene or the survivors they had met. Josh didn't want to think of being a zombie, walking around as a monster with an insatiable, all consuming hunger and have no possession of a soul or remorse for his actions. But it wasn't the cadavers' fault they were like this. It was Umbrella's fault, their fault for creating such an abomination of a virus. As far josh could think, being shot was a more humane way of dying than rising up as a monster and devouring more innocents. He could go on forever about the horrors the T-virus caused.

Josh put yet another shuffling cadaver out of its misery with two well aimed shots in its cranium. So far they had shot around nine zombies, Josh's body count being three, Helene's two and Ricky's four. They tried to make their shots as accurate as possible to save their ammunition before arriving at the shooting range. It was a relief that the strange skinless humanoids or insect mutants didn't prowl out in the open streets. That was understandable since the dark narrow alleys were easy to hide in and make an ambush from above or from the shadows. Unlike zombies, a lot of the T-virus mutations possessed some intelligence on how to plan their attack, like an instinct.

"How much farther?" Josh asked, getting irritated from the walk.

"It should be right… there!" Ricky looked up from the map he had been keeping at hand and pointed at a building northwest of where they were.

The building was large from its acreage. It covered an enormous area from the block, around two thousand five hundred square meters. It had only one floor judging from the height. It was built form bricks and was square shaped. The walls were a depressing grey color and it had no windows, possibly to dissipate the gunshots' noises. The door had a large sign plastered above it which read: Blasting Range in big, black letters with a picture of a revolver on each end.

"Yup, this is the place alright." Ricky confirmed checking the map one last time before folding it up and placing it into a pocket in his pants. "No use standing out here. Let's go." He signaled Josh and Helene to follow.

Ricky pulled the windowed door open, training his gun inside in case someone was there to welcome there, which there wasn't. He opened the door wider and allowed the teens to enter first. He closed the door upon entering himself. They were in a hallway with gun related posters plastered onto the gray painted stone walls. The white tile floor was stained with mud and dirt, so other people must have entered before them, hopefully not having emptied the entire gun or ammunition storage. Three doors were in the hallway, two on the right wall, one around two feet away from the door and another one about four feet away from the previous. There was another door to the opposite wall, placed in the middle of the wall. On it was a sign that read: 'Storage' and 'Staff only!' in red, bold letters. On that door's right side was a numerical keypad.

"That must be where they keep the goods." Josh guessed examining the sign. He took hold of the door handle, but it didn't budge when he tried to turn it. "It's locked."

"I guess we need a code in order to open it." Ricky responded. "Great, just where are we going to find it?" He grumbled.

"Only one way to find out." Josh spoke. "We gotta search this place for it."

"I agree with Josh with this." Helene said nodding, but feeling reluctant to move around in an unexplored area.

"Well, I suppose there's no other choice." Ricky said. "Alright, you two search that room over there…" Ricky explained pointing at the door farther from the entrance. "While I'll search the other one. That okay?"

Josh nodded. "It's cool with me."

"And be careful." Ricky added warningly. "There could be zombies in here just like everywhere else we've been to."

"I sorta gathered that." Josh replied. "Okay Helene, let's go." He said glancing at Helene.

Helene nodded in response. The survivors walked towards the doors to the rooms they were to investigate. Both doors were unlocked much to their luck.

The door Josh and Helene went through seemed to be the staff break room. The room's furnishings consisted of two sofas with a low wooden table placed between them. On the wall in the far right was a dart board placed over a wide wood square to not leave holes into the wall. A small TV was placed onto a stool that stood next to the wall opposite of where Josh and Helene had entered. Added with the furnishings was a dead body lying on the right side sofa. Blood was covering the corpse from around its upper body and its head was missing, as if it had been twisted off…

"Jesus Christ…" Josh grumbled looking at the decapitated body of a man. "That was no zombie…" He figured, knowing they only tore away at various parts of the body when feasting. "Or the bugs." He added. Upon closer examination, he didn't find any scratches bite marks on the corpse. The head had just been twisted off since the skin seemed to have been tightened in the neck area and the spine was on the wrong side, meaning it was snapped.

"Any ideas?" Helene asked looking at the decapitated corpse more closely herself.

"Nope." Josh replied shaking his head. He then noticed one of the corpse's arms hanging off the sofa, so there was a chance he could have been holding something. He supported himself on the table with one arm to bend over a little more. A shiny object caught his eyes. He leaned over a little more and used his unoccupied hand to reach for the object. Once he had it in his grip he stood up straight and examined it. "Whoa…" He could only let out. In his hands he was wielding an actual S&W (Smith and Wesson) 686 magnum revolver.

"You seem amazed Josh." Helene spoke seeing Josh's reaction.

"I have the right to be." Josh replied. "You see, what I'm holding in my hands is one of the most powerful and reliable guns made." Josh explained, looking at the gun like it was the most astounding thing in the world. "Unlike our 9mm. handguns, magnums pack more power in their shots since revolvers use most of its functions in firing the bullet. The ammunition it takes is much larger too, so when this hits something, it's gonna leave one hell of a mess." Josh then brought out the cylinder to check if it had any bullets. Upon rolling out the cylinder, he cocked the gun up and shook it roughly to slide out the cartridges into his palm. Four of the cartridges were empty while the last two were still loaded. Josh placed the two unused bullets back into the cylinder while dropping the used cartridges onto the ground, causing them to scatter upon hitting the ground. He then pushed the cylinder back in, and audible click emanating from it. "Two shots." He concluded.

"You think we can find ammunition for it?" Helene asked.

"Possibly." Josh replied, still examining the revolver. "C'mon, let's check out the rest of this place." He strapped the magnum into his belt for the time being and searched the rest of the room together with Helene.

They didn't find anything useful, just some magazines, mostly adult material, old newspapers, some of them spanning form last week, an ash tray filled with ashes and cigarette stubs and a package of cigarettes.

"Well, that's that." Josh said setting down a magazine he had looked under. "Hopefully Ricky found something useful."

-

Ricky opened the door of the room he had volunteered to search. Upon opening the door, he quickly pointed his gun inside in case something were to jump out at him. Nothing came at him. The room was nothing more than a broom closet. A mop was placed in the corner with an empty bucket beside it. In the shelves in the back of the closet were various cleaning chemicals. There was also a floor buffer in the opposite corner of the mop. Nothing in there proved useful for him, unless he was planning on beating zombies to death.

"Yea, sure." He said sarcastically to his own thoughts and closed the closet door. "Doubt they'll keep a code in a broom closet." He thought. He continued towards the end of the hallway, stopping in front of the door of the room Josh and Helene were searching. He wasn't sure that should he wait for them, go inside to assist them or continue onwards. "Doesn't feel right leaving them behind." He considered. After thinking for a while, he finally decided. He supported himself against the opposite wall and crossed his arms while still keeping his gun at hand.

Ricky didn't need to wait more than approximately three minutes when the door opened and Josh and Helene stepped out, only this time Josh had a new revolver strapped into his belt, a revolver to be exact.

"That's some gun you got there." Ricky complimented.

"Thanks. Now we've got an actual magnum in our artillery." Josh responded, patting the grip of the magnum proudly.

"Just don't get cocky now that you've got it alright?" Ricky warned.

"Don't worry." Josh replied reassuringly. "Besides, it's only got two shots left. Won't be much use until we find more ammo for it."

"Well I agree to that." Ricky commented. "Well, c'mon, we've got more places to search." Ricky said motioning the teenagers to follow him.

The three moves towards the end of the hallway. At the end of the hall they were met with a wide room with tables scattered around along with chairs, a few of them being topple as a sign of a struggle. There were two corpses there too, belonging to zombies, one lying prostrated on the ground with its limbs sprawled out while the other one must have toppled onto a table, making them both fall on the ground. To the left from the hallway was a bar with various soda bottles placed onto a counter in an orderly fashion behind the bar table surrounding it. Partially consumed food and drinks were left onto the table, meaning some people must have had to escape this place when it was attacked. The question was what? To the right from the hallway was just a wall with gun and shooting related posters plastered onto the walls along with a clipboard with charts, schedules, brochures and other things tacked onto it. The entire room was actually divided in two. Between the large area was a wall with thick sound proof glass and beyond that was the room where target practice was done. Another thing caught the survivors' attentions. A man was sitting on a table, his body prostrated over the table. His eyes were shut tightly and a faint groan emanated from him. This man was dressed in the familiar U.B.C.S uniform. He possessed very youthful features, semi-long dark brown hair and a face that had no sign of stubble or anything considered manly

"Holy shit!" Ricky gasped rushing to the soldier's aid. "You alright buddy?" He asked the soldier.

"Ugh…" The young mercenary groaned. "W-who's there?" He asked, his eyes squinted open.

"Matt, it's me, Ricky." Ricky replied. Josh and Helene guessed these two knew each other since Ricky said the soldier's obvious name.

Ricky quickly examined the young mercenary's injuries. The young man had no signs of scratches or bites on his face or arms since Matt wore a long sleeved uniform like Ricky did. Ricky took a look at the soldier's lower body and found the cause of Matt's agony. His right leg had a grievous cut and it was still bleeding. Ricky immediately got to work and pulled back the pant leg to expose the wound more clearly.

"Josh! Bring me some tissues or something!" Ricky spoke demandingly. "Helene, give me a few painkillers and hemostats!"

The two did as they were told. Josh rushed over to the bar counter and found a tissue dispenser. He began pulling tissues out of it quickly while Helene rushed over to Ricky and Matt. Helene knelt down while sliding her backpack from her back. She opened the smallest pocket in it and took two push-through straps containing two different kinds of pills. After getting a handful of tissues, Josh hastily made his way over to Ricky. Ricky took the supplies and began treating the soldier's wound.

"Matt, I want you to swallow these. They'll make the pain go away and slow the blood loss." Ricky told the soldier.

Matt gained the strength to grab the two presented pills and pop one of them into his mouth. He was able to swallow it, feeling the dry texture against his esophagus. He then popped the other pill into his mouth afterwards and was able to swallow that too. Ricky then grabbed a can of first-aid spray from his utility belt and sprayed some of the cold substance over the cut. This made Matt wince and growl from the stinging sensation. Ricky then wrapped a sterile bandage around the cut.

"How'd you feel?" Ricky asked concerned.

"Much better, thanks." Matt replied, the painkillers having taken effect. "But what are you doing here Ricky? Shouldn't you be evacuated by now?" The soldier asked.

"Nope. I can't leave yet when I got lives to save." Ricky replied emphatically.

Matt let out a hearty chuckle. "Always wanting to be heroic eh?" He asked.

"You know me." Ricky replied. "Always doing the right thing and what's best for the world." Ricky said in a proud way.

"Yep, he really does that." Josh added.

"Who are they?" Matt asked looking at Josh and Helene who were standing on the side.

"Josh and Helene. I'm helping them get out of this god's forsaken town." Ricky explained.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to use the clock tower evacuation point?" Matt asked, confused of why his friend and comrade was far away from the designated evacuation area.

"Well, we hit some snags and we were sort of forced to come here." Ricky replied. "And now we need an anti-virus for Helene here since she's been infected by a mild T-virus infection for a while now. And before you ask, don't worry about Josh, he just arrived two days ago and he's not bitten." Ricky concluded before Matt was able to question anything. "And speak of the devil, we found you of all people as well. It's good to see you're alive and well."

Matt's happy expression suddenly turned grim. "But listen, you guys gotta get outta here. There's Lickers in this place." He warned solemnly.

"Lickers?" Josh asked curiously. "Just what are those?"

"Skinless creatures with razor sharp claws and one hell of a long tongue." Matt briefly described the creature now known as a Licker.

"Those things I saw in the alleys and the apartment?" Josh wondered remembering the strange humanoid monsters that had almost gotten him and Cranky killed a few hours back. "Wait… you mean to tell us those things are in here!" He asked suddenly shocked to hear he's right in the middle of their territory.

"That's it." Matt nodded grimly. "One of them fucking tried to kill me. Now you see what their claws are truly capable of." Matt explained looking down at his bloodied and torn plant leg. "That's why you should get the hell outta here now!"

"No." Ricky responded. "We can't leave until we replenish our ammo supply." He said very seriously. "If we don't find any ammo, we won't last the walk to the facility."

"Ricky's right." Josh agreed nodding. "Our survival partly depends on it. And we may just as well encounter something new and more dangerous than any of those fucked up abominations we've seen so far. And I for one don't wanna die young." He spoke determined.

"Well, it's your call guys." Matt sighed from defeat. "But still, you have to be careful if you run into a Licker. Just a lone one was able to get me off my feet as you saw. Those bastards are a thing to be reckoned with."

"Don't worry buddy." Ricky reassured with a pat on Matt's shoulder. "We've been through a lot throughout the city. I'm sure we'll find a way to deal with those freaks."

"I sure hope you're right." Matt replied still feeling unsure about their chances of surviving an attack from the Lickers, mostly for the possibility there were more than one of them in the building.

"Well, can you walk?" Ricky asked.

"Dunno." Matt replied shaking his head. "My leg's still killing me, but I should come with you guys." Matt began to try and get himself off the uncomfortable upright chair he was sitting on, but Ricky pushed him back into a full sitting position.

"No, you shouldn't be moving around now." Ricky said with concern. He thought about the situation for a few minutes, darting his gaze at Josh, Helene, Matt and took a glance up at the roof in thought. "Okay." He said concluding his thoughts. "Me and Josh will search the building thoroughly for the code to the weapon storage while you and Helene stay and hold the fort here." Ricky told his plan.

"Wait." Josh interjected in a surprised manner. "You're saying I can actually be of use for once?" He asked.

"Well, since Matt is injured and Helene's not what you can consider as a gun pro, you're the only other man available." Ricky responded shrugging. "Besides, hearing that you dealt with Lickers sort of convinced me." He added.

"Well, at least now I don't sound like a liability to you." Josh replied.

"I've only concerned for your safety kid, I've never doubted you for a second." Ricky responded slightly irritated from Josh's response. He turned back to Matt. "You just rest here and keep an eye out with Helene. We'll be back as soon as possible." He assured his comrade. He then looked at Josh. "Kid, you check out that practice room over there, while I'll search the room over there." He ordered glancing at a door right from the bar counter with the door leading to the shooting range being beside it.

Josh replied with a quick nod and ran off towards the door leading to the shooting range and Ricky went through the other door beside it. Helene and Matt could see as Josh thoroughly searched through the divided shooting pens. Each pen was divided by a thin wall and each pen had its own counter where people could place bullets, bullet packages, their drinks and other various items. The first three of them had nothing, he could clearly see without having to take a closer inspection. The fourth one had a package of 9mm. rounds. Looking inside it, a few of the bullets were missing, but they were still useful to him and Helene since they used handguns and a rifle with that same caliber. The next two were also empty, the seventh one had a discarded soda can and the last two were also empty. There was nothing else of interest or use, so Josh came out of the pens.

Without saying anything to Helene or Matt, Josh went through the door Ricky had gone through earlier. He came to a dim corridor with familiar white painted walls and a grey tiled floor. In front of him was a compartment with a white colored fire symbol on it, indicating it housed a fire hose and other devices used to extinguish small fires. He had two choices of direction, left or right. He had no clue on which way Ricky had gone, so if he chose the same path, they'll just cover the same ground.

"Okay, I'll just have to guess." Josh thought and closed his eyes, bringing up his left arm to chest level. After considering which might be the best guess, he turned his arm to point at right. "Right it is then." He approved and went in that direction, keeping his gun trained forwards at all costs.

Though not sure about reconsidering, Josh continued onwards in the dim hallway. Best way to indicate Ricky had come that way was to look out for freshly killed zombies if he came across any. The corridor lead on for a bout ten meters up until Josh came to a stop. There were two doors, one right ahead of him and one to the left about five feet away from him. Of course there couldn't be a third door since behind the right wall was the shooting range. Without considering or thought, he chose to go through the door in front of him first.

Upon opening the door and seeing what was inside, it made him smile a little. "Hmm, not bad." He thought aloud.

This particular room was for shotgun users. In front of him about four meters away was a counter separating the room from the range. It looked different to most shotgun shooting galleries he'd seen since they were always kept outside and the targets were clay balls that were fired with a type of cannon. From what he could tell, the small gaps in the range must have raised up some kind of target that moved at a particular speed, kind of like at those carnival shooting games he loved when he was little. In fact he wouldn't have minded taking a few shots, but given the circumstances he wasn't to waste any ammunition he would need in order to fight the undead and Umbrella's other additional creations.

"Hmm, how inappropriate." He thought sarcastically. "A shooting range but with no chance of trying it out." But he considered that when he escaped Raccoon City, he had all the time in the world for target practice.

With nothing else that would be worth to examine present, Josh turned to leave. But just then his eyes caught sight of a foot locker that was placed right behind the door. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to snoop around, he took hold of the lid's handle and pulled it open. Inside he met something that made him almost exclaim from triumph. It was loaded with many boxes of different caliber shotgun shells.

"Oh, yea." Josh spoke aloud joyously. "Now this is what I was looking for." He immediately began to look for the section of boxes labeled 12-gauge.

Upon finding the demanded type of ammunition, Josh slid his backpack off his back onto the floor. He opened the biggest pouch of it. There he found items that were of no use to him now. A few books, some clothing and a small bag that contained a tooth brush, tooth paste, a gel tube and other various morning task goods. These were the things he was going to be using when he had gotten to his uncle's place in Primefeld, a city twelve miles away from Raccoon City where he was supposed to go to, hadn't his bus crashed. Thinking they were of no use to him at the moment and he could get new ones anytime after escaping, he poured them all onto the dusty tile floor, forming a heap of clothes consisting of socks, boxers, t-shirts and a spare pair of jeans. He then started fitting as many boxes of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition into his bag that he could carry. Each box contained twenty shells, so if he were to put in five they'd have over a hundred shells if they count in the ones they currently had. But, he decided to settle with three boxes in case he had to carry something else in his trusty backpack.

"There, that oughta be enough." He thought zipping his bag closed. He strapped his backpack back on and stood up, his bag weighing more than before, but that didn't matter to him since he was physically strong. As he casually proceeded to walk out of the room, he suddenly heard something metallic being slammed onto the floor. From surprise he instantly aimed his gun to where the noise came from.

A vent cover in the upper left corner of the room had been knocked off the wall with a resounding crash upon taking impact on the tile floor. A head popped out of the vent, but it was far from human. Josh was clearly able to see the familiar distinctive features of this creature. Exposed muscle tissue, sharp teeth, the brain exposed; that indicated that it was a Licker. The monster let out a shrill shriek and dragged itself out of the vent. Not wanting to risk his life fighting this creature. Josh hastily threw the door open and ran out, slamming the door closed behind him. The Licker was able to hear the sounds of Josh's escape clearly, making it shriek again and leap at the door, swinging its deadly claws in hopes of decapitating the teenager, but all its claws met were wood. But the claws still sank through it, startling Josh.

"Fuck…" Josh could only grumble, looking down the hall and darting his gaze at the other door. Getting as far away as possible from the monster pursuing him was inviting, but he still felt the urge of searching for the needed code for the storage room locking mechanism.

The Licker's claws made impact on the door again, leaving a crack on the wooden surface. Josh was almost able to see the creature's hideous form through the wide crack and that was all he needed to make a quick escape. He yanked the other door open and rushed inside, slamming it behind him with great force. This only enraged the Licker and it shot its tongue out through the crack of the door, but its tongue was only met by the taste of painted wood instead of blood.

Josh panted heavily after the last ordeal of escaping the Licker. He tried his best to quiet down his breathing in order to listen if the Licker was still breaking the door down. He waited for a few seconds and couldn't hear anything, only his deep breathing. He then focused his attention on the area around him.

This room appeared to be an office, probably belonging to the owner of this shooting range. There was a large oak desk placed right at the end of the small room with a comfortable looking chair behind it. In the left side of the room placed right beside the wall was a green, new looking leather sofa. Josh walked over to the desk, making very little noise since the floor was completely carpeted, making his footsteps soft and impossible to hear. Reaching the desk, be took a look on the surface. Nothing convenient was on it, just a plastic desk cover, a wooden jar containing pens and pencils and a computer screen with a keyboard beside it. Figuring that these large desk always had shelves on the owner's side, he walked behind the desk. However, as he got over to the opposite side, an object on the floor. Taking a closer look, Josh let out an audible gasp.

On the floor lied a prostrated dead body of a man, and judging from his skin that had not begin to rot indicated that this person died a human, also the bullet hole on his temple and the Tanfoglio handgun that was still grasped in his hands were able to strengthen this indication. The man was dressed in a blue dress shirt and dark blue jeans along with expensive looking brown leather shoes. Guessing the dead owner wouldn't mind, Josh ejected the clip inside the handgun and poured the bullets into his own jeans' pocket.

"At least you died human." Josh thought with remorse. Dying a human was much better than transforming into one of the undead, no doubt about it.

Josh stood up and checked the topmost shelf on the left side set of them. This shelf contained two boxes of 9mm. rounds, obviously for the Tanfoglio the owner had in his hand.

"Thanks buddy." Josh thought, referring to the dead owner who lay at his feet prostrated. He took the boxes and slid off his backpack onto the owner's chair, placing the boxes of bullets into one of the smaller pouches where he kept his handgun ammunition.

Josh continued searching the shelves. He opened the middle shelf on the left side of the desk, finding it to be full of papers, receipts and manila folders. He took out the papers and began looking through them in hopes of finding the one that told the code for the storage room in the lobby. He finally found a single piece of paper that caught his interest.

_Electrical lock system_

_To ensure the safety of the storage rooms, the electrical door lock system's code will be changed weekly._

_This week's code is: 5835_

"Bingo." Josh thought folding up the paper with his fingers and placing it in his pocket. Thinking there was nothing else of importance in the office, he turned to leave.

Josh was suddenly startled by a loud crash of wood. He remembered the Licker that was pursuing him form the shotgun target practice room. The monster must have finally torn the door down and was out in the corridor, waiting for him so it could ambush him. Josh strapped his handgun into his belt along with the magnum he had obtained earlier and un-strapped his shotgun.

"Okay, now this is not good." He whispered with an uncomfortable look pointed towards the door leading to the corridor or the 'belly of the beast' in his opinion. He had to find some way to attack the monster first since if the Licker managed to get the upper hand, he was not going to last long.

Lickers were considered a much bigger threat compared to the zombies even if there was just one of them. Back in the alley it took four shots to bring down the first Licker he had encountered with Cranky, the one that almost got him killed by means of constricting him with their unbelievably long tongue. Just the thought of being face to face with those hideous things sent chills up and down his spine.

"I can't open the door since that freak will just lash out at me…" Josh thought keeping his shotgun trained at the door in waist level in case the monster were to break in. "Hmm… what can I do. I'm like a rat cornered by a snake…"

Josh had to think carefully. What did he know about Lickers? Well for one thing they moved on four legs, making them slower than humans since they were not designed to move on all fours, but they possessed a superior jumping ability. They possessed dangerously sharp claws that just broke down a door and could cause grieving injuries like the one Matt had suffered. Lickers were also blind, so they had to rely on the advanced sense of hearing…

"That's it!" He whispered, but far from triumphant. What he was about to do was very risky.

He quietly inched closer at the door and knocked on it. The silent hiss the Licker emanated suddenly stopped. In an instant a loud high pitched shriek emanated from beyond the door and the sound of bone against wood followed. Josh hurriedly stepped back from the door and aimed at the door with his Remington. All he had to do was to wait until the Licker had taken the door apart enough so that it would present itself as a target and then he were to unload a few good well aimed doses of shots into the monstrosity.

-

"Did you hear that!" Helene asked Matt after hearing a loud shriek from beyond the door Josh and Ricky had gone through earlier.

"Yea," Matt nodded in agreement. "And it doesn't sound good." He emphasized grimly.

"What is that thing anyway!" Helene asked dumbfounded by the terrifying animalistic cry.

"Most likely it was a Licker." Matt replied. "Judging from the sheer volume of that battle cry, it must be pursuing someone…"

"That means Josh and Ricky are in danger!" Helene gasped worried. "We have to go help them!"

"I would, but my leg's still killing me." Matt grumbled angrily staring at his bloodied pant leg.

"You stay here, but I'm not going to sit back and listen!" Helene said and was about to dash through the door.

"Wait!" Matt shouted. "You won't survive with what you're carrying!" He said seriously. "Take my rifle instead." He suggested referring to the rifle resting beside his feet on the floor.

"Alright." Helene put down he Steyr AUG on the table Matt was sitting at afterwards knelt down to pick up the M4A1 rifle on the floor. "Thank you very much." Helene said generously nodding.

"No worries. And be careful." He warned. "Make every shot count 'cause those things are much worse compared to zombies."

"I'll keep that in mind." Helene agreed nodding.

Helene rushed over to the door with the heavier rifle at hand, he intention: to assist a friend in need. She had considered long and hard and finally decided it was time to face her fears, no matter how horrifying they may be. She only hoped she wasn't too late…

-

Yep: another cliffhanger ending. My specialties don't you all think? I hope you're all liking things so far since I had a tough time planning this part of the story. I was considering hard whether to use Lickers or Hunters, and I finally decided to use our favorite skinless creeps. But don't you worry, there will be Hunters, I assure you. I can say one spoiler about the next chapter: it has something I have borrowed from another famous author (with permission of course.) Until next time! The nightmare is far form over…


	16. Chapter 16: Cry of malevolence

Chapter 16: Cry of malevolence

Ricky Wallace furiously looked through the shelf of a tool desk. Like the last, it was only full of tools used for fire arm and house maintenance.

The room he had found used to be for fire arm maintenance and housing tools for housing maintenance. The room luckily still had functioning lights, fully illuminating the gray concrete floor and the dull white painted walls. Tool desks were placed side-by-side with each other, tool boards hung up over them and a tool cart rested right behind the door he used to enter. Also a clipboard was placed on the left side wall, but it only consisted of appointment charts and such along with a poster hidden under them. Ricky was currently looking through the tool desks in search for anything that could be of some use or in hopes of finding the code for the storage door back in the lobby of the shooting range.

"Where the hell is it?" He cussed in his thoughts throwing aside a handful of maintenance goods. With a sigh of frustration he pushed the shelf closed and opened the next one. "I sure hope Josh is doing better than me at this point…"

He was suddenly startled by a sudden gunshot emanating from beyond the door he used to enter the room he was currently in. Then he heard a series of rapid-fire, indicating someone must have been using an assault rifle or a sub-machinegun.

"What the hell's goin' on over there!" He wondered with an uneasy expression. He hurriedly un-strapped his assault rifle and readied himself to rush out and open fire on whatever was left of the abomination being the target.

-

Helene continued her assault on the Licker she had found at the right end of the corridor with Matt's assault rifle at hand. The monster had been found beating down on a door which indicated Josh or Ricky being trapped in there. Despite having a powerful weapon at her disposal, her shots weren't being as accurate as with her Steyr due to the recoil.

The Licker furiously shook its head as its body took in a few poorly aimed shots form the assault rifle. Its attention on its last target was completely brushed aside as it concentrated on how to slaughter this new target. Though not possessing the sense of sight, it could sense easily where this target was. It was taking a few steps backwards while firing single shots from a weapon. Relentless as the creature was and being resistant to pain to a certain degree, it might have been able to finish off the new target.

Helene felt like panicking as the shots didn't connect so accurately as with her Steyr. She wasn't used to firing in full-auto mode and even firing just two or three shots caused great recoil to her. She took slow steps backwards while trying to keep her aim and balance steady. The Licker was sure to butcher her twice as fast if she were to topple.

The Licker finally let out a ferocious shriek, and hunched up to prepare for its attack. One strike by its claws of tongue and the human was eliminated. It opened its mouth with an angered hiss, preparing itself for a powerful strike… Instantly the door it had been clawing down was kicked open, slamming violently into the creature's side. Before it could comprehend what was happening, its head was completely obliterated from a resounding blast, spreading viral blood and brain matter all over the floor and walls. Following the blast was a sound of a shotgun being pumped and the hollow tone of an empty shell falling on the floor.

"Geez, you were armed to the teeth and you couldn't kill it?" Asked a very astonished Josh Ellington who stood over the Licker's corpse.

"Hey, everyone alright back there!" Asked the worried voice of Ricky. The U.B.C.S grunt came rushing out from the opposite end of the corridor. He couldn't help but feel frightened seeing the decapitated Licker lying on the floor surrounded by blood and chunks of brains. "Jesus, that's a hell of a mess." He spoke still looking down at the monster's dead body.

"So, any luck to either of you?" Helene asked darting her gaze from Josh to Ricky.

"Oh, yea!" Josh hollered triumphantly pulling out the bent piece of paper containing the door lock code. "Got it all here." He continued opening the paper.

"Five, eight, three, five huh?" Ricky asked looking at the black ink written numbers. "Okay, so we got what we came here for. Let's say we go loot up and get outta this place." He suggested jerking a thumb at the door leading to the bar room.

"I'm with that." Josh replied with a quick nod. The three survivors went through the door back into the bar room now with the code for the storage room.

Upon hearing the door open and close, Matt looked up from his position.

"Looks like you all made it." He said managing a small smile of relief. "So, did you find anything?"

"Sure did." Josh replied waving the paper in front of his face. "Now let's get some ammo and get to work on getting the hell outta this town." He added and began walking at a faster pace towards the storage door with Helen in tow.

Ricky looked at Matt and spoke: "You gonna be alright walking with your injured leg?"

Matt shrugged Ricky's concerns off and assured: "Hey, the painkillers did the trick and it only got the flesh. I can walk alright, but I don't think running is recommended." He reassured by standing up back straight. His injured leg however did rise off the ground for a split second, but Matt showed no signs of pain or discomfort. "See? Nothing to it."

"Good to hear that buddy." Ricky nodded with a smirk. "C'mon let's go help with the 'looting'."

Josh punched in the code on the number pad and pressed the green colored confirmation button. A light resounding 'beep' emanated form the little gizmo and the sound of electronics came from inside the wall.

"We're in." Josh said triumphantly strapping on his shotgun and drawing his handgun and keeping it trained at the door whilst he pushed down on the door handle. He quickly pushed it open and took hold of his handgun with both hands, keeping his aim steady for any possible threats.

Just as he had predicted, a lone zombie came shambling at him with its arms familiarly outstretched and letting out a hungry groan. From pure reflex, Josh unloaded two shots into the zombie's head and downed it. Taking a step in, he found another zombie standing right behind the door. Before getting to stretch out its arms, Josh delivered a thrust kick that knocked the zombie down onto its back. Josh then fired a shot into the toppled zombie's cranium and silenced it forever.

"All clear." He assured Helene who was waiting outside the storage room.

The storage room wasn't considered capacious. It was the shape of a rectangle seen from below. The room had a total of three metallic shelves placed besides the walls. Two were placed to the left side wall and the last one was at the opposite from the door. The two left side shelves were filled with packages of all kinds of ammunitions, ranging from plain bullets to shotgun shells which Josh had already stocked up on. On the third shelve were food items such as bags of chips, bottles and cans of soda and beer, candy bars, plastic wrapped submarine sandwiches and such.

"Whoa, nice." Ricky said gazing at the ammunition shelves. "So what are we waiting for, let's load up!"

"All we'll need are a few packages of 9mm. bullets, 45ACPs and some…" Josh drew out his S&W and rolled out the cylinder. He shook out the two unused bullets and examined it closely. "Colt 357. rounds."

"Well what about shotgun shells?" Ricky asked looking down at Josh with a puzzled expression.

"I found plenty from that one room back at the corridor." Josh replied briefly. "We've got over sixty shells now, more than plenty."

"Ah, gotcha." Ricky nodded. Instead of examining the ammunition on the left side shelves, he went over to the one containing the drinks and food supplies. "Anyone thirsty?" He asked looking back with a bottle of spring water in one hand.

Josh shrugged and replied; "Sure, why not." He followed Ricky and took a bottle of water himself. "As long as it's bottled it's safe."

"Maybe we should take a few with us just in case." Ricky thought out loud. "You'll never know when thirst strikes."

"Okay," Josh slid off his backpack and held it out to Ricky. "You take care of the water, I'll scrounge up the ammo."

"Okay. Hey, anyone of you thirsty?" Ricky asked Helene and Matt.

While Ricky was busy handing out water bottles for Helene and Matt, Josh unscrewed the cap from his and took a few good gulps of the clean crystal clear liquid. In instantaneous feeling of refreshment overtook his body after going over a day without food or water. At least his thirst was finally quenched and he felt much better despite being in the city closest to hell. After closing the bottle and carrying it with the tips of his index and middle finger, he began to look through the shelves for the particular ammunition they were in need.

"Okay, let's see here." He thought with his gaze darting through the different kinds of boxes containing ammunition. Now that he noticed, there were no shotgun shells stored here, and sit seemed as if someone had hurriedly searched the shelf. And now that he recalled, the box that held the shotgun shells had a padlock thrown on the floor close to it. The shotgun practice room was probably the storage for the ammunition too. "Could be." He guessed while scanning all the different boxes.

There truly was quite an array of different ammunitions; 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .38, hell, even .44 magnum and 357 magnum JHP! The 357 was the one Josh was desperately in need for. The packages were large and sported a picture of a revolver. If only they would have been placed into speedloaders so that Josh wouldn't need to fit in all the bullets by hand.

"Better than nothing I suppose." He muttered sliding the small box open like a match box. Inside were two neat rows of golden colored ammunition. There were sixteen bullets in the package, a fairly appropriated amount. Josh looked through the same shelve where the package was and only found one more of the same packages. "Swell, they took almost all of the good stuff." He grumbled.

"How's it look kid?" Ricky asked from behind Josh.

"Appropriate I guess." Josh replied brandishing the two full boxes of magnum ammunition. "Sucks that they don't seem to have speedloaders though."

"You mean these?" Ricky asked reaching for something on a shelve above the one Josh was looking through. He retracted his arm, holding a small circle shaped object with six holes on one side and a short metal stub on the other end.

"Alright! We're lucky bastards after all!" Josh said triumphantly. "How many are there by the way?" He asked peeking up.

"Four." Ricky replied briefly. "I think we should take 'em all just in case." Ricky said, taking hold of two more speed loaders with one hand and placed them on the lower shelve that was on the same level as Josh's head. He then grabbed the last two and placed them on the same place, stopping one of them rolling and falling off from the shelf in the process. "You should eat a little before we head out." Ricky said glancing at the shelf containing the food items.

"Definitely, I'm starving." Josh nodded. He jogged over to the shelf which Helene and Matt were standing near. Both were snacking on a candy bar with Matt holding another one in his other hand. Without picking, Josh grabbed a Snickers bar, tore open the wrapping and took a bite out of it. The sweet taste of chocolate and caramel combined with peanuts spread through his mouth, making him feel even better than earlier. He was beginning to feel energized. "Won't do good for my skin, but what the hell? At least I won't die of starvation." He told himself mentally. He took a look at Ricky who seemed to be placing the magnum bullets into one of the five speedloaders. "I'll have to thank him." He reminded himself while continuing to chow down on the Snickers bar. He then darted his attention towards Matt, wondering what was the story behind this guy. For a veteran soldier, he looked pretty young. Maybe around twenty years old? "So Matt, what's the story behind you?" Josh finally asked.

"What're you getting at?" Matt asked.

"Well, Ricky said he used to be a Navy SEAL, so I was just wondering where you got your battle experience." Josh replied.

"I was in the Green Berets, but I was kicked out due to my fear of heights in flight training." Matt spoke, sounding ashamed from the last few words in the conclusion.

"That's too bad." Josh spoke sounding remorseful. "Sorry if I made you upset or anything."

"Nah, I have myself to blame." Matt sighed. "If I would have just made that parachute jump I surely would have gotten through flight training."

"So then you were picked up by Umbrella who promised you a big wad of cash, in return fighting their own defective creations?" Josh asked, sure to hear an admit.

"That's just about it." Matt responded.

"Knew it." Josh thought. "And I suppose now you wish you would have just declined their 'generous' offer for a suicide mission?" He asked.

"Gee, did you read my mind?" Matt asked sarcastically. "Now I'd rather be re-living those parachute jumps." Matt chuckled.

"All of you ready to go?" Ricky intervened. "By the way Josh, I filled up the speed loaders." He said producing a filled speed loader from one of his utility vest's pouches.

"Appreciate it." Josh nodded. "I'll just fill up this bad boy and then mosey." Josh spoke referring to his magnum.

"Right." Ricky agreed and gave Josh his backpack back. "I took some 9mm and 45 ACP rounds to go with those, so I had to put the good stuff in another pouch."

"I assumed that would happen." Josh replied kneeling as he was able to find his magnum rounds. He took four bullets, rolled out his magnum's cylinder and hastily fitted in the first three rounds. Josh whispered a profanity when one of the bullets slipped from his fingers and rolled away from him on the floor. He quickly reached out to it. "Gotcha."

Just then a vent just above Josh was slammed open. A familiar pink figure crawled out, presenting its grotesque, eye-less face. Everyone looked up in horror coming face-to-face with the abomination known to them all as a Licker. Josh froze in fear, failing to retract his body back. The creature emanated its trademark hiss and swung its tongue back and forth slowly, as if a thin, pink snake was hanging from its mouth.

"Shit!" Ricky cussed hastily drawing his SOCOM and without aiming fired three shots at the creature. Two of the shots connected with the wall and the third one nailed the monster on its right shoulder.

With a screech of pain and rage, the monster let out its also familiar screech and stuck its claws out from the vent, as if to pull itself out in order to leap at the blonde U.B.C.S grunt. Suddenly the room was filled with the racket of rapid-fire. The creature's head was throbbing backwards rapidly, its blood splattering on the wall. In only a matter of seconds the monster's head hung limply from the ventilation duct.

"Didn't get out this time bitch." Matt snarled putting his assault rifle's safety back on. "Those damn things always catch you by surprise." He grumbled.

Josh hastily fitted the last bullet into his new magnum and slammed the cylinder back inside it. He then zipped his backpack close and stood up. "Let's get the hell outta here…" He spoke slightly shivering.

"I'm with ya kid." Ricky turned to Matt and Helene, "You heard him, let's move!" He spoke.

The four made it out of the storage room and headed for the front door. But before Ricky was even able to take hold of the door, he froze in shock. A lone zombie was slamming itself onto the door as an effort to get inside.

Ricky scoffed at the zombie and aimed his SOCOM at the decomposing, walking cadaver. From a single pull of the trigger, a hole was blown through the door glass and the bullet buried itself in and out of the zombie's cranium. The impact caused the zombie fall on its back and twitch a few times.

"Mother fucker…" Ricky grumbled pushing the now ruined door open. He held it open so that everyone else could walk out and finally let go, letting the door close itself thanks to the door shutting unit. He turned his attention to Matt, "You sure you'll be okay with that leg of yours?" He asked one more time just as a precaution.

"I will, don't worry." Matt replied casually. "Now let's move on before 'they' figure to come after us." He spoke, referring to what they all saw inside the shooting gallery.

"Right," Ricky nodded. He pulled out the map of Raccoon City. The area they were heading for was circled with a pencil, which covered a rather large portion of the map on the eastern side. Ricky traced his finger along the map to find where their current position was. "Okay, so we'll continue down this road here…" He thought aloud tracing his finger down the road they were going to take. "Then we take a right to Herbert St. and continue down three blocks… Then we turn left to Bough St…." He concluded and looked back up form the map. "That way." Ricky said pointing left.

"How long do ya think it'll take?" Josh asked, looking down the way they were headed.

"I dunno." Ricky shrugged. "Over an hour at least…"

"Great." Josh grumbled. Not from the walk, but form fear of the dead bodies of Raccoon and the mutated creatures prowling around. "Well, if we wanna stay alive we should get going."

"At a boy." Ricky responded. "Let's go!"

The four survivors began their tread towards the industrial area of Raccoon City, now loaded with plenty of ammunition to take down any cadaver or anything that didn't look like it was from our world. The walk through the streets was slow and frightening, with junked up cars, some lit aflame. Dead, mutilated bodies were lying with their limbs spread out, showing their torn out insides and bones. The whole area stank of decaying flesh and gasoline, not a pleasant combination in anyone's opinion. This smell was not going to leave their noses for a while after this incident. There wasn't even a possibility that they'd ever get rid of the gruesome memories of Raccoon City's final moments. Almost the entire population dead, the streets destroyed, buildings in horrible state due to the battles and riots with the zombies and worst part of all was the dead population refusing to stay dead.

"Ugh." Josh waved his hand in front of his face in disgust from the rancid stench emanating from all around. "I swear I forgot what fresh air smells like." He thought with disgust.

Yet another lone zombie can hobbling towards the survivors, but one shot from Matt's Sig PRO took it down instantly, leaving the body to continue decomposition along with the rest of the corpses.

"Parachute jumping was heaven compared to this…" Matt spoke remorseful of his fear of heights.

"So were the lame boring days spent at SEALs." Ricky agreed.

Another zombie, a tubbier one compared to the last one bust its way out of a junked up car, startling the survivors. Before the overweight cadaver could even begin to get back on its feet, two shots rang. One struck the zombie's elbow joint and the other pierced through its face, making the corpse topple back down, twisting its arm with a gruesome tear of skin, muscle and bone. Josh then dramatically blew the smoke arising from the muzzle of his USP like he had seen gun fighters do in old Western movies.

"And stay dead." He spoke to the re-killed zombie, shooting a hateful glare in its direction.

The walk carried on. Only encounters were with one or two zombies, easily dispatched by Josh, Ricky and Matt's precise shots, wasting only one or two shots on each cadaver. However, they began to noticed something…

"Hey, is it just me or are there more and more zombies every five meters we walk?" Josh asked the other, hastily fitting 9mm ammo into his only clip.

"Nope, there are more of 'em." Ricky replied, urging himself to un-strap his assault rifle.

"I don't like where this is going…" Matt commented, afterwards aiming just behind from Helene's head to take down another walking cadaver. "Now there's one in nearly every turn."

"Aw crap…" Josh grumbled downing yet another zombie with one shot in its face. "Not good!" He shouted, seeing another appearing from behind a junked up car.

The survivors suddenly realized they were being surrounded by the undead. They were coming from every direction, not in mass yet, but still two or three zombies hobbled towards them in every direction they took, seeing more were coming from beyond them. Josh, Ricky and Matt hastily equipped their more powerful weapons. They expected it was going to be a bloodbath in a few shirt seconds… The zombies began closing in on them…

"Fire at will! Now!" Ricky hollered and opened fire among the zombies in his field of vision.

Josh, Helene and Matt did as told. Josh mowed down two zombies with one shotgun blast, not decapitating them, but blowing them on their backs from the blast's force. After quickly pumping the shotgun, he aimed at three zombies to his right, aiming upwards a little and fired. The middle zombie's head was severely damaged as the blast sent chunks of its face flying while knocking it down along with one of the zombies beside it. However the third one wasn't much affected, but then a single shot in its head from Helene's semi-auto rifle took it down. Like Ricky, Matt mowed down the zombies with rapid fire, turning a bit to the left and right between pauses. Ricky's M4A1 was first to click from being emptied. With swift movements he discarded the empty clip, fastened in a new one, pulled back on the bolt and resumed firing at the zombies.

"We gotta get outta here!" Josh yelled blasting down a duo of zombies. After pumping and aiming at another duo of zombies, his gun only clicked when pulling the trigger. "Shit!" He cussed reaching for his sidearm. He fired at the closest zombie, striking it in the head and swiftly aimed at another and downed it too. "And I meant pronto!"

Ricky heard Josh's yells more than clearly, triggering himself to hastily scan for an escape way. He had to aim at yet another approaching zombie and shoot it down before resuming his search. At the same time Josh was quickly placing shells into his shotgun's underbarrel magazine. The rapidly approaching zombies however made the ordeal more difficult, so he had to look up between each shell in order to retaliate. After placing in the eight shell, he was about to finish by pumping the shotgun, but then a zombie came from front and took hold of his shoulders

"Agh…shit!" Josh yelled brining up his shotgun to keep the zombie from biting him, but the surrounding zombies were making the ordeal even more difficult. They were sure to gang up on him and overpower him, then it would all be over…

"I don't think so!" He heard an angered Matt growl. The U.B.C.S grunt came from the side and stuck his handgun's muzzle right on the zombie's temple and fired, making the bullets burst through the other temple. Josh then pushed the zombie down, managing to trip a few more zombies in the process. "You okay buddy?" Matt asked while taking shots at the approaching zombies.

"Yea, I owe you one." Josh nodded. Now with his shotgun loaded, he pumped it and blasted two zombies off their feet.

"There!" Ricky hollered through the zombies' moans and gunfire. He was pointing towards a large freight truck parked next to the sidewalk. "Make a run for that truck!" He hollered again and fired a three-shot burst into the crowd of undead.

"You heard him! C'mon Josh!" Matt spoke taking hold of Josh's shoulder and dragging him along.

Ricky took hold of Helene's arm and pulled her with him towards the truck, mowing down the zombies in his approach, praying his clip wouldn't run dry before reaching the truck. Josh and Matt did the same, Josh's shotgun serving as a good method of blasting down several zombies from one blast. They finished off a few of the zombies by stomping their heads into mush. Ricky and Helene made it to the truck first. Ricky shot down a few more zombies and afterwards climbed up and slammed the driver's seat side window into smithereens with the butt of his rifle. He then reached out inside the truck and opened the door.

"In ya go Helene." Ricky said giving Helene a boosting push as she climbed into the large truck. "Hurry it up!" He shouted to Matt and Josh.

"We're trying dammit!" Matt retorted. He fired at a trio of zombies and kicked one that got too close with a roundhouse kick.

"Damn!" Josh growled blasting down another duo of zombies with his shotgun. "They're everywhere!"

Ricky's eyes suddenly widened with horror. "Matt!" He shouted.

"Huh?" Matt glanced at Ricky, but then he felt something approaching. As he turned to look he nearly froze in fear.

A zombie reached out to him and grabbed him with an iron-hard grip. Before Matt could get the undead off him, the zombie sunk its teeth into the spot between Matt's left shoulder and neck. Matt let out an agonizing yell as he felt the zombie tear his skin and tissue off his shoulder. Blood gushed as the zombie pulled back its head with a mouthful of Matt's flesh in its mouth. Just catching a peek what just happened, Josh furiously pulled out his handgun and fired four shots into the zombie's cranium. As the zombie fell its mouth hung agape with Matt's flesh dripping out on the U.B.C.S grunt's utility vest.

"Matt!" Ricky yelled scared for his friend's predicament. He shot down a few zombies with his rifle and began to rush out his fallen comrade. Helene offered cover fire with her Steyr AUG, the scope aiming module allowing her to lay perfect headshots on the zombies that got too close to her friends. Ricky ran up to Matt who had fallen to the ground from the excruciating pain, having only Josh to keep the zombies at bay. "Jesus, Matt! Don't die on us!" Ricky spoke shivering. He lifted his friend's head up, causing Matt to cough blood.

The injured mercenary inhaled raggedly and coughed up more blood. "Damn bastards got me…" He spoke in an angered, yet sorrowed tone. "Go…" He spoke, coughing up more blood.

"No! We're not leaving you behind!" Ricky yelled, but he had to face it, Matt was bitten in his neck area, making it hard for the soldier to breathe and what's more, he was now infected by the T-virus. "You gotta keep fighting buddy! You can't give up now!" Ricky pleaded Matt to hold on for his life.

"It's okay, I'm done for…" Matt responded, coughing even more. "Just get the kids outta here. Save 'em." Matt spoke, grimacing from the excruciating pain.

"But…" Ricky looked at the young mercenary with pure sadness in his eyes. First over half of his unit was slaughtered by the zombies, then lieutenant Mikhail died defending him and everyone around him from Nemesis and now one of his best friends in the U.B.C.S was dying.

"Argh!" Josh yelled enraged downing down three zombies with one shotgun blast. "Die you fucking bastards!" He yelled, fury showing in his youthful eyes.

"Just go before you and the kids die…" Matt pleaded. "Take my clips, you'll need them more."

"We're not leaving you!" Ricky yelled again.

"I said go!" Matt shouted angrily, getting the strength to point Ricky in the face with his Sig PRO, but the look in his eyes showed pure sorrow.

Ricky reluctantly took the last M4A1 clips from Matt's utility belt and laid him down on the road. Ricky felt he couldn't leave a still breathing, but surely dying comrade right in the middle of a zombie massacre, but he had to face the facts. He had to get out of there and save the still living Josh Ellington and Helene Nayami. He finally managed to stand up.

"Josh! C'mon!" He shouted.

Josh looked back, now having to resort to using his USP handgun on the crowd of zombies. Josh hastily rushed over the already toppled corpses and straight for the truck. Matt was still able to use his Sig PRO to take down the surrounding zombie that still posed as a threat to the fleeing three survivors. Ricky finally urged himself to get in the truck. He opened the plastic casing under the steering wheel and began hotwiring the vehicle. He could still hear the semi-auto gunfire from outside, but he could just grit his teeth with sadness and continue hotwiring. He connected two wires together and the truck rang to life.

"I'm sorry buddy…" He thought still hearing the gunfire and moaning since the window beside him was smashed open. He pushed on the gas and the truck finally began to move, crushing any zombie that was in front of it with ease.

Matt Jaeger crawled on his back with the remaining energy he had away from the zombies, firing at a few of the closer ones with his Sig PRO, which now held his last 9mm. clip. He fired one headshot at a zombie, and the next time he pulled the trigger, only a click came out. He then vainly threw his handgun at an approaching zombie, only stunning it. He then reached for his last grenade on his utility belt. He held it in his right hand and the index finger of his left hand was curled around the pin. He closed his eyes and then looked up into the grey sky.

"If you're still alive, I'm sorry… But if you're already dead…" His left hand prepared to pull the pin. "Here I come… Reneé…" He sobbed and finally got the courage to pull the pin…

"_Boom!"_

Matt's entire body exploded from the effects of the massive amounts of TNT stashed into the U.B.C.S grenades, also blasting a big amount of zombies around him into bloody pieces. In the truck, Ricky having heard the explosion was fighting off tears slowly leaking form his eyes. Josh and Helene sat there next to Ricky, solemnly looking out the windshield. Many zombies in the way kept getting run over a squashed by the twenty-five ton weighing truck. Yet another victim had been claimed by the T-virus's chaotic effects. It was only a matter of time before the virus may start affecting neighboring cities and if coming to that, the entire world would soon face Umbrella's creation's horror. Was the government even wary about this incident? Or were they trying to plan on how to fight off the disease from spreading throughout the state? Or the whole continent?

"Hey, Helene." Josh whispered, getting the Japanese girl's attention.

"Yes?" Helene asked.

"How far has this T-crap spread by now?" Josh asked, keeping his hopes up that it hadn't spread beyond Raccoon City.

"Far as I know it's confined in the city." Helene replied, Josh reacting with a thankful sigh. "The military set up blockades so that nothing could get in or out. That's why so few people have survived. If the non-infected would have been evacuated from the city, there wouldn't be as many zombies like at the present."

"Wait," Josh looked up. "If the military had blocked off the entrances, then, how was that bus I was in able to get inside city limits?"

"I don't know." Helene responded, mutually confused with Josh. "Maybe the blockades didn't erect to all of them and it was left poorly guarded. I heard that anyone who was to approach a certain distance to the blockades were to be shot on sight."

"Holy crap!" Josh replied startled. "They kept people cooped up in a town that was becoming a bio-hazardous necropolis and did nothing to help!"

"They didn't want the risk of contracting the virus themselves." Ricky spoke up, having gotten a grip over himself. His eyes were a little red from around them, but it was barely noticeable. "If you ask me, the government's got a hand in this ordeal…"

"So you're saying they made a deal and let Umbrella send its own unit to rescue the civilians while their own forces stood as far away as possible from this?" Josh asked bewildered on how far the case of this outbreak had spread.

"That's just about it. Plus since we've been marked expendable, neither Umbrella nor the government gives a crap on what happens to us." Ricky spoke while driving, still ramming down any zombies that were foolish enough to cross their path. "You've probably seen on how diverse we U.B.C.S are?"

"Yea, if I recall, wasn't Carlos Mexican or something?" Josh asked, remembering the soldier back from the cable car, who looked as if he were from Mexico, or possibly South America.

"Yep. And Mikhail, Nicholai, they're all foreigners. We're mostly made up of war criminals, criminals, condemned, illegal or legal immigrants or just plain dudes kicked out from the military." Ricky replied.

"But you say you quit the SEALs." Josh said.

"Yea. I was one day approached and asked if I wanted hell of a lot of cash in exchange for a secret mission. And as the dumbest decision in my life, I volunteered." Ricky spoke, his tone becoming darker.

"Well I'm glad you did." Josh replied. "If you hadn't been here, me and Helene would probably be dead by now."

"Hmm, yea. Suppose you're right." Ricky replied in a heartier tone. "Funny how peoples' paths cross eh?"

"Sure is." Helene nodded.

"But hey, as long as we stick together, there's nothing that can beat us into a bloody pulp!" Josh spoke almost triumphantly.

"I wouldn't agree on that, but I liked the way you said it." Ricky replied and let out a hearty chuckle. "If you hadn't been along for this ride kid, this would feel so much grimier than it already is." Ricky said glancing at Josh with a grin.

The ride in the truck went on smoothly with no trouble at all since the truck's tremendous size made the zombies feel like mere snakes or skunks getting run over by an average family car. After driving down the road a few minutes, Ricky suddenly hit the breaks.

"Why are we stopping?" Helene asked looking at Ricky.

"Gotta check the map." Ricky replied digging out the map from his pants' pocket. He folded out the small map of Raccoon and began tracing his finger along the road they were on. "Let's see we got this truck while on this road…" He thought aloud, but silently in a whisper.

Josh tiredly looked out the windshield, hearing Ricky's faint whispers while looking at the map. Josh yawned from exhaustion, wishing they'd just find the Umbrella establishment, find Helene's cure and find a way out of the city. He couldn't quite put his finger on a fact that he thought he heard thunder rumbling… thunder? He got back up back straight and heard another rumble, but no flash came from the sky…

"Uh… what's that?" Josh asked both his fellow survivors.

"What's what?" Ricky asked, having not heard the rumbling yet. As he stayed perfectly quiet those few seconds, he heard the rumbling himself… then another… and another…

"They sound like footsteps…" Helene said peering out the side window.

"Uh, Ricky…" Josh spoke shakily. "How about you ease off the break and put the pedal to the metal before…

Instantly a huge dent burst from the truck's right side door, causing Helene with a fearful yelp to move away from the door. Outside all three survivors saw a hideous face. A familiar brown face without a lower lip and clear white teeth forming a never ending grin on its features.

"Fuck! Smiley Boy's back!" Ricky exclaimed kicking the driver's side door open and jumping out, followed closely by Josh and Helene. As Helene had barely jumped out, the door on the passenger's side was smashed open by a gloved fist, bending the door into a useless hunk of metal, glass and plastic.

Ricky hurriedly readied his M4A1 and Josh quickly drew his new and powerful S&W 686 magnum revolver from his belt. The survivors each took slow steps backwards waiting for the infamous beast to show itself from behind the truck…

"I don't remember him having two eyes…" Josh thought, aiming at the vehicle, ready if the beast decided to show itself.

After a few more thunderous footsteps the giant emerged, stepping fort from behind the truck. It still wore its familiar black trench coat and matching pants and boots. The tentacles under its sleeves and lumpy skin slithered in anticipation to be shot out. The monster stared down at the three humans with its soulless white eyes.

"Crap…" Josh whispered shivering, itchy trigger finger tingling.

The behemoth of a brute violently slammed its fist through the truck's front frame, incredibly piercing the metal as if it were nothing. Pulling its fist out, it brought it up to shoulder level and rubbed its fingers against its palm, letting its bones crackle against each other…

"Kill…"

-

A/N: Yep another cliffhanger. I'm sorry this chapter became shorter than most of my chapters, but I did the best I could as always. Sorry for keeping ya'll waiting since World of Warcraft aka, the Soul Stealer has kept me away from work. I promise the next chapter will be posted soon. Also I'd like to thank Hyper Active Hamster of Doom for letting me borrow our 'little friend' and someone mentioned here. Who is our friend? If you read: Resident Evil: Project Lucifer, it should very clear to you… Till next time! The nightmare's far from over…


	17. Chapter 17: Killers 'n Lizards

Chapter 17: Killers'n Lizards

The infamous leather clad brute had emerged from behind the truck, having obliterated the engine of the large vehicle with a single punch. Not something you'd believe except in movies right? Well not quite. Standing before the three survivors was the infamous, horrifying beast known as Nemesis.

Josh clearly remembered his early encounters with this beast, having encountered Nemesis only yesterday. The first time he was thrown across a street and nearly decapitated by its tentacles. The second time the monster barely had time to attack with him, Ricky and Jill attacking it at the same time. Then Mikhail sacrificed himself in order to destroy Nemesis. But it appears his sacrifice was all in vain. The behemoth still stood, its coat not even charred. Only puzzling feature was the eyes. Josh wasn't too sure, but he remembered Nemesis having only one eye.

"_Well it wouldn't make a difference if he had one or two._" Josh thought, since only the shadow of the massive monster was enough to almost wet himself.

Josh and Ricky both had their weapons trained at Nemesis, while Helene stood behind them, staring horrified at the monster. The strange thing was that the creature hadn't even attacked them yet. It just stood in place next to the no longer usable truck, having punched its fist through its hood.

"C'mon, make your move already…" Josh whispered, doing his best to keep his itchy finger from pulling his magnum's trigger.

"Grr…" The monster gutturally growled. It leaned forward a bit and seemed to squint its eyes. It was as if it was trying to identify the humans. "Hrrrmmm…" It growled as it peered at Josh.

Josh's eyes began to slowly widen, his nerves beginning to fail on him. Any minute now his fear would give in and he'd pull the trigger. Why was it looking down at him? Why hadn't it attacked yet?

The monster still peered at the young human. The brute remembered a child from earlier, but this one had so many differences. Brown hair, green eyes, different clothing. It was not the one who had injured it in an explosion some time ago. Was this child a threat?

Josh's nerves were in their last stand. His eyes were widened of fear, sweat trickled down his forehead, his trigger finger twitched from the lust of pulling it. Instantly his finger began to tighten around the trigger…

"BANG!"

The monster suddenly brought is hand up to its face, after Josh had fired a clean shot right between its eyes. The monster growled from obvious pain and stepped backwards, its free hand tightened to a fist.

"Now you've done it!" Ricky blurted out. "Get going! Run, run!"

The three humans made a break for it, hopefully to buy some time before the monster would attempt to chase them for that shot it just took.

The monster finally removed its palm from its forehead, gazing down onto its leather gloved hand. Murky, purplish liquid was staining the shiny glove. The monster then looked at the three humans running. It was not going to let such a painful blast in the face to get away with.

"Kill!" It hollered furiously and ran after in pursuit.

"Fuck, he's not letting you get away with that!" Ricky shouted taking a peek behind him. The monster was chasing them, and it was closing distance between them in a rapid pace.

"Looks like he's been learning new words as well!" Josh accommodated.

"Shut up and run dammit!" Ricky retorted commandingly.

And for good reason too. Despite being seemingly large and brutal from its features, Nemesis was incredibly fast on its feet. The thing was soon going to be breathing on their necks. If that monster were to catch the survivors, they'd be done for… Ricky glanced around the area, trying to spot a suitable hiding place to get the brute of a monster off their tails. But the monster however was almost at them. He had no choice, he reached down to his utility belt and grabbed his second last grenade.

"_I hope this works…_"

Ricky pulled the pin out with his teeth and tossed the grenade a few feet ahead of him and the teenagers. After getting a few feet away from the grenade and right when Nemesis was stepping into the grenades blast range's hypocenter. As the towering brute's foot made impact on the ground, the powerful explosive detonated, letting out a resounding 'boom' in the process. A reddish flash emanated from behind the fleeing survivors, not daring to look back on what the grenade's effects were on Nemesis.

Nemesis unbeknownst to the survivors lay on the hard, dusty concrete which had now darkened from the grenade's blast around its hypocenter. Purplish ooze accompanied the soot and charred concrete, secreted by the opened, severe injuries Nemesis received from the blast. It laid motionless, not even twitching, but its malevolent, eternal grin still stayed. Then after a few minutes, the creature's fingers began to twitch. Then the monster's eyes opened up.

"Urgh…" The thing growled taking support from the ground with both arms. Then the creature's legs bent from the knees, offering more support as the creature arose from the ground. The creature's once shiny leather coat was charred from the legs and abdomen while its purplish black blood oozed from the few scathes it received from the blast. Angered to an even higher extent, it looked up, barely noticing the three humans taking a turn to the left. "Kill!" It roared cringing its fingers enraged. It took off running after the survivors, infinite rage emanating from its bleach white eyes.

"Crap, what're we gonna do now!" Josh asked frightened hearing the monster's raging bellow.

Ricky glanced around for a hiding place, but everything around them was too obvious or too disgusting to hide in. Hiding in a dumpster or garbage can wasn't going to work for sure, guessing this monster had super sharp senses. He then noticed they were running beside a broken net fence with a large, old looking factory building beyond it.

"Through here!" Ricky whispered tearing a larger opening into the already rusty, poorly maintained fence. Helene went in first while Josh and Ricky kept an eye out for the hulking behemoth on their tail.

"I'm in!" Helene whispered from beyond the net fence.

"Good. Josh, you next." Ricky whispered tugging on Josh's shoulder. "And be quick!"

Nemesis's thundering footsteps were already audible as Josh knelt and crawled under the opening in the torn net fence. Upon reaching over to the other side of the fence, Josh began to get up on his feet, only to get the collar of his jacket snagged into the netting…

"Crap!" He cussed whispering as he tried to get himself loose.

Ricky also had problems of his own. The brute known as Nemesis was clearly in his view, moving in a quick pace towards him.

"Hurry it up!" Ricky shouted, glancing down at Josh and back at Nemesis.

With a forceful yank, Josh was able to tear his jacket's collar from the net fencing and literally jumped to his feet, being aware of Nemesis's fast approach.

"Now! Hurry!" Josh yelled looking at Nemesis who was making its way towards Ricky.

As quickly as possible, Ricky kept the passage in the net fence open for himself while kneeling down. As he tried fitting himself through the small opening in the fence, Nemesis was practically on top of him. Ricky could see from the side of his vision as the monster reached out to him…

A sudden duo of gunshots made Nemesis stagger backwards with both of its massive arms cradling its chest. This gave Ricky enough time to slide himself under the net fence. Once on the other side, the survivors scooted over towards the old factory building, which luckily might hold a suitable hiding place from Nemesis.

Meanwhile Nemesis carried on with its hands cradling its chest in pain, having gotten two magnum rounds into its chest. It looked up from its current activity and saw that its current victims were running away again. Nemesis then roared with its deep raspy voice and threw a straight punch at the metal fence. The fence was blown off its posts and flew a few feet and slid a little upon taking impact on the pavement. The monster ran after the survivors once again in hopes of slaughtering them for getting shot three times and almost blown up.

Upon reaching the walls of the old factory, Ricky pulled open one of the emergency exits, which luckily hadn't been nailed or bolted shut to keep anyone from entering. The survivors darted back at Nemesis who was stepping over the pulverized netting of the fence, an audible growl emanating from its direction.

"We gotta hide and stay quiet! C'mon!" Ricky commanded and led his two teenage companions inside the abandoned factory.

One inside the three survivors stood in a wide room, probably used for the assembly of products and such. There were not many places to hide, save for a few large wooden crates. Many feet above was a grated catwalk.

"Think those will serve as a good hiding spot?" Josh asked, walking closer to one of the abandoned crates. The crates were and old grey color, indicating they had been discarded years ago. However the boards were nailed too afar from each other to even have a hope of concealing anyone inside. Nemesis may have been big and brutal, but it must have had enhanced senses like the Lickers or the insects he had encountered in the alleys. "Nah, forget I said anything…"

From a sudden burst, the emergency exit door of the factory was blown off its hinges! The towering monstrosity once again made its entrance with a fearsome growl. It quickly scanned its two targets, the boy in the black jacket and the man in the green uniform. It seemed to pay no attention to Helene as it treaded towards its closest target: the boy.

"Get away hell bitch!" Ricky shouted threateningly aiming with his M4A1 assault rifle. The monster paid no attention and continued to tread towards, as if to scare the living daylights out of its victim before bringing its inescapable demise. "I'm warning you! I'm not nice when I'm angry!" Ricky threatened more with a more raised voice, that and his nerves being the only things keeping him from slipping into insanity.

Nemesis continued treading towards Josh, clenching its hands into fists.

"Josh!" Ricky shouted, glancing at Josh. "When I say 'go' you run like hell. Got it?"

"Gotcha…" Josh responded, his voice shivering, but his fake angered expression did little to show that. He was aiming his powerful new magnum at the monster, which was the only thing in his possession next to his shotgun that was capable to fight off these huge, unworldly Umbrella creations.

Nemesis continued to approach. Ricky turned the safety off his rifle with a flick of his thumb and glanced to make sure it was on full-auto mode. The monster growled again, bursting a tentacle from under its right arm sleeve.

"Go!" Ricky yelled and opened fire, several rounds whizzing through the air and into Nemesis' chest.

This signaled Josh to make a run for it by running to the side, avoiding the hail of gunfire courtesy of Ricky. Nemesis glanced at Josh and then continued approaching Ricky, the bullets doing little to stop the beast. Sure the bullets did sting once they buried into its lumpy skin, but this only enraged the monster to a high degree. It unexpectedly dashed at Ricky and seized him by the throat.

"Grraah! Kill!" The monster snarled, slowly tightening its grip around the U.B.C.S grunt's neck and lifted him over its head.

Ricky's legs flailed relentlessly and he was still able to fire off rounds into the creature's stomach, but his aim began to be off and his assault rifle finally ran dry, only rapid audible clicks emanating from it. Ricky tried slamming the monster in the gut with the empty rifle, but it was futile as he was running out of oxygen. The rifle fell from Ricky's grip and his hands took hold of Nemesis' wrist. Ricky did his best to stay conscious, but he hadn't even gotten an inhale after the creature had grabbed him. His grip began to weaken slowly…

A sudden gunshot ran out, striking Nemesis in the right temple. A wave of pain shooting throughout its body, Nemesis dropped Ricky and tightly clasped the side of its head with its hand. Ricky fell hard on his rear and back, the assault rifle having fallen right where his head landed. He breathed quickly, his face already having turned pale. He was able to look to the side of Nemesis to spot not josh, but Helene firing at the beast with her 9mm. Steyr semi-automatic rifle. Nemesis growled while it turned to Helene's direction. Impressively Helene stood her ground and kept firing, all shots landing perfectly thanks to the mounted scope. Nemesis had to shield its face with its left hand before it even started to approach Helene.

Ricky still gasped for air, rubbing his sore throat, still feeling woozy trying to stand up. With his assault rifle back in his right hands grasp, he shuffled behind one of the wooden crates. Still having a hard time moving, Ricky was able to detach the empty M4 clip and fasted in a new one. But as he tried to stand up to pull on the bolt, he felt dizzy and almost collapsed.

Helene in turn backed away from the slowly approaching Nemesis, still firing round after round now aiming at the chest since the monster had the intelligence to shield its face from the gunshots. Helene glanced around her for a second in search for a hiding place.

Unbeknownst to Nemesis or even Helene or Ricky, Josh had made his way up onto the catwalk from a ladder close-by. Now was his best chance to attack since Nemesis's bulk made it impossible to follow him up there. Before even thinking of firing, he slung his backpack onto the grating and began digging for the Colt. 357 rounds not yet placed into speed loaders. Having gotten what he was looking for , he slid the chamber out and was able to guess which cartridges were used. He slid the mount with his finger nails and replaced them with unused ones. He then slammed the chamber back in and pulled on the hammer of the revolver. Finally he slung his backpack on and began to run to a part of the catwalk which would give him a better close-up of the monster and grant him better aim. He was going to have to run for the opposite side of the catwalk. Down below he could see it all; Ricky regaining his composure from being almost chocked to death. Helene was improbably fighting Nemesis by herself, but the AUG was not considered powerful for its stopping power.

"Don't worry, ass hole's going bye-bye." Josh mumbled and ran.

Helene continued firing, each shot making impact on Nemesis, but the bullets didn't seem to even faze it, as if the bullets were mere mosquitoes. After taking a few more shots, Helene's gun clicked empty.

"No…" Helene whimpered and forcefully pulled on the trigger, but with no avail. Nemesis lowered its hand from its face so it must have guessed that the girl was done firing.

"Kill…" It growled again and tread towards Helene.

"No!" Helene screamed. She made a break for it by dropping her Steyr rifle and ran right past Nemesis who's had missed from grabbing her by a mere few inches. "H-help!" Helene hollered desperately, running as fast as her slender legs could carry her.

"Shit… Helene…" Ricky grumbled hiding behind one of the large crates, having gotten himself back on his feet with a ready assault rifle at hand. He peeked behind one of its corners, catching only a glimpse of Helene and a glimpse of Nemesis who was only a few feet behind. "Crap, now smiley boy's after her." He cussed silently.

Back above, Josh ran as fast as he could on the catwalk, keeping his eyes watching downwards intently. Now was Helene's turn to be caught in a game of death-tag with the brutal yet agile Nemesis. Also he could see Ricky moving out from his hiding place, pressing himself to another crate not too far. That's when Josh realized that there were six crates in all, and they seemed to be conveniently placed in a particular formation. The view from above reminded Josh of the six digit marking in a playing dice placed sideways. That might help in Ricky and Helene avoiding the monster while he was to bomb it with powerful magnum shots.

"Ricky, Helene!" Josh shouted from above. "Run around and between the crates!"

Ricky heard Josh's voice and looked up, surprised of all the places the boy had gone to without the meven noticing.

"Must be a good view from there." Ricky whispered to himself. "Hmm. Whatever ya say kid!" Ricky smiled and ran after Nemesis who was still hot in pursuit after Helene.

Josh then moved quickly in order to find a suitable position to fire. "Damn it all for not having a sniper rifle right now." He grumbled trying to aim at Nemesis. Despite being a massive brute who's bulk and spread out shoulders would have made it an easy target, but at the sheer speed it moved, it was the same as trying to hit a human from the same height. "Shit, that bastard…" Josh mumbled, trying the best he could to aim, having experienced sharp shooting with moving targets earlier, but this was a whole new challenge. He kept trying to aim his weapon until his finger squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out and the only result was a spark on the concrete floor. "Dammit!" Josh cussed and ran to the right on the catwalk to keep up with Nemesis.

"Kill!" Nemesis growled again.

Helene was finally wearing down after running around the six crates in two whole circles. Fatigue was rearing its ugly head at the most inappropriate time with the hellish behemoth still on her tail.

"No! I don't want this to be the end! I don't want to die!" She screamed mentally, almost feeling the monster breathing down her neck.

Rapid fire suddenly rang out from behind Nemesis. Nemesis stopped in its tracks and looked behind, spotting Ricky hiding behind the corner of one of the crates. Nemesis growled angrily turning away from Helene who in turn made a run for it and Ricky pulled himself back behind the crate. But then he ran away from the crate and hid behind the one opposite of it, away from Nemesis' field of vision.

"Helene!" Josh shouted from above. "You go hide! Let me and Ricky handle this!" He shouted demandingly, his vision still plastered onto the chase between Ricky and Nemesis.

After a responding nod, Helene ran in through a door right of her. Now Josh was more relaxed knowing Ricky was doing the most dangerous part of this little skirmish, running around the different crates in order to confuse Nemesis while he up on the catwalk had a bird's eye view on the wide area of the room. Ricky in return moved away from behind the box he was hiding and moved to its left side, Nemesis stepping over to his previous hiding spot in a few seconds.

"There!" Josh realized and squeezed the gun trigger. This time the blast was a hit.

"Graaagh! Grrruarrr…" Nemesis growled holding its aching head, a fresh new bullet wound dug into it by Josh's magnum.

"How'd ya like that ass hole?" Josh called out mockingly to the somewhat hapless Nemesis.

Upon hearing the mockery bestowed upon it, Nemesis removing its hand from the still open bullet wound. It looked up high towards the small figure on the catwalk. Forgetting all about Ricky, Nemesis concentrated on how to kill this target before resuming its path of destruction on everything around it that lived. The monster then showed off its incredible strength by punching a hole through the crate it was standing besides, making Ricky almost yelp from the hard push. Nemesis then took hold of one of the boards and tore it off the crate.

"What the fuck?" Josh wondered watching the creature's current activities.

Nemesis's hand clenched tightly around the piece of wood adorned with a few rusty bent nails. The monster emanated a raspy inhale and brought the board holding hand backwards and moved its body sideways and positioned its legs tightly onto the ground.

"It's gonna throw it!" Josh gasped in thought. Judging from the sheer strength the monster possessed, if the board were to hit him, he'd have any bone affected by the impact broken or if he were hit in the stomach or chest he might get pierced. He didn't even want to begin to imagine what might happen if the board made contact with his head.

"Kill!" Nemesis bellowed and threw the board, making it spin like a Frisbee heading right for its target.

"Whoa!" Josh yelped abandoning his firing post and diving forward, the board contacting with the catwalk's railing and snapping in two. "Son of a…" Josh began but was distracted seeing the railing bent from the impact. Normally it would be impossible to bend full iron with wood. "Shit!"

Growling angrily, Nemesis took hold of another board and tore it off the crate. Josh broke into a mad dash in hopes of avoiding Nemesis' projectile. Nemesis followed Josh's movement and with a swing of its arm, sent the board flying towards Josh. By pure instinct again, Josh fell flat on his stomach and covered his head, hearing the board slam violently onto the portion of wall above him. The board bounced off the wall and landed beside Josh. Having the coast cleared even for a little while Josh took aim at Nemesis who was back to tearing a new board from the destroyed crate.

"Yo ugly! Back here!" Ricky shouted emerging beside Nemesis and firing at the monster with his assault rifle.

Nemesis snarled enraged and tore another board from the crate. This time however it was not intending on throwing it. It wielded the board like a sword and brought it up above it head and with incredible speed brought it down towards Ricky. The young soldier had barely any time to sidestep when the board made impact with the concrete floor, causing the board to snap close from where Nemesis was holding it. Ricky took this chance to make a run for it with Nemesis following soon after.

"Dammit!" Josh cussed and ran trying to keep Nemesis in his vision.

Helene could hear the noise coming through the door she had ran through to hide. At first it was the heavy footsteps of the horrifying monster that was trying to kill the lot of them. It was followed by a more faint sound of someone shooting with Nemesis roaring in response. Then she swore she heard something being smashed and torn apart. Just seconds ago she even heard the familiar rapid-fire of Ricky's assault rifle.

"I can't take this!" She whispered. "Is this nightmare ever going to end!" She sobbed, a tear sliding down her left cheek. "Haven't we suffered enough yet! How long are we going to be forced to run?"

Helene's fear of dying was overtaking her. For three days she had been running with the intent on escaping the city. First she only wished she could escape with her beloved brother Osamo, but the monsters had claimed him a victim and now he was gone along with her parents and grandmother. She was the only Nayami dwelling in America now with no one to comfort her. All she could do was sob while listening to the intense battle going on in the assembly area just outside the door. She could still hear Nemesis' thundering footsteps moving in a quick pace, probably running after Josh or Ricky intending to kill them too.

"Why can't I do anything!" She asked, not expecting an answer. All her life Helene had thought she wasn't special or talented in anything. She was just one of those average girls who had no real physical hobby and only did remarkably well in class. She had been useless during all the time of her escaping attempts. Even with Josh and Ricky she hadn't done anything useful besides scoring a few good shots on zombies and assisting on finding the hospital where to cure Josh's injured arm… Or could she? Was she really able to help? Her tears miraculously began to lessen. "Maybe…" She thought, looking over her shoulder towards the door. Behind it was a battle field with two men fighting a possibly loosing war. Maybe if she were to join, there might be a chance…

"Alright, that's it." Helene whispered closing her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I'm through being useless. It's time for me to make a difference too." She thought determined. "I'm going out there to help. I won't be afraid!" She clenched her fist.

Now all she had to do was reload her rifle. The small square room she was in was rather dim with the lack of lighting, the only source of light being the window on the wall left from the door. She hurriedly walked over to it and was ready to slide her backpack off, but she was stopped, sensing that she had seen a glance of something out the window… She looked up…

"Dammit, stay still!" Josh shouted angrily at Nemesis, trying to keep up with the monster's unbelievable agility.

Ricky had been running and hiding from the immense beast for a while now, and the fatigue was slowly starting to get to him. He currently had his back pressed to one of the six crates lining in the wide room, panting heavily while trying to figure out when to start running like a scared little mouse. As much as he didn't want to believe what he was going through at the moment, he was right. Nemesis was more agile than him despite the monstrosity having a body three times bulkier than his. He intently listened to the brute's heavy and audible footsteps. The easy part in hiding was to figure out where Nemesis was at the moment and should it have gotten too close, he only had to run as quickly as possible and hide behind another crate while in hope that Josh could immobilize it long enough to escape the factory.

"C'mon, where are ya?" He silently asked, peeking from behind a corner of the crate.

Josh was now relieved that Nemesis had slowed down for a second, proceeding the game of cat and mouse in a slow walking pace. This made aiming remarkably easier, and its bald leathery head was already in the magnum's sights…

Suddenly all three figures were startled by a loud scream coming from the upper left corner of the room, beyond the door Helene was ordered to take refuge inside. Before Josh could even consider taking the chance to shoot the halted Nemesis, the door was violently pushed open, an immensely scared Helene running out with four strange creatures in tow.

"What the fuck are those?" Ricky gasped seeing his young friend being chased by these things. From what he could tell in the dimness, these new creature stood around at least a head shorter than him, had dark greenish skin and ran in a slumped position, reminding him about a gorilla. But this skin wasn't just any skin, more like scales. These creatures possessed two arms; the left one seemingly larger compared to the right and both were adorned with large claws, not as long as the Lickers' but were surely just as sharp. They had a lizard-like face, and the left side of its chest and around its head looked like it was covered in bumpy red growth.

"Help!" Helene screamed at the top of her lungs.

The leading one of these strange creatures produced an ear splitting shriek and with seemingly inhuman strength leaped over Helene and landed right in front of her. This made Helene almost topple gazing into the beast's white eyes, a small slit visible in them, not making them look as soulless as all the other creatures, but terrifying nonetheless.

"Helene!" Ricky gasped revealing his hiding spot, but to him it didn't matter. He opened fire on the new creature with his assault rifle.

The creature shook violently from the bullets digging deep into its body and with a final pained screech, it fell limp on its back.

"C'mon, this way!" Ricky held out his hand, allowing Helene to grab it and he pulled her away from the creatures.

The lizard creatures however didn't seem too keen on Helene. All three of them were staring at the towering Nemesis. The three reptilian creatures let out an aggressive screech before they all leaped and rushed at Nemesis, probably seeing it as a more harmful foe than the fleeing Helene.

"Graagh! Kill!" Nemesis hollered angrily and swung both arm horizontally, fending off the creatures, but not doing any real damage to them. They simply rose back to their feet and viciously attacked again.

Now with Nemesis temporarily out of the way, Ricky led Helene to the destroyed emergency exit door they had used to enter the abandoned factory. At the same time Josh rushed over to the ladder of the catwalk and hastily climbed down beside the exit door.

"Let's get outta here while big, dark and gruesome's got his hands full." Ricky suggested quietly.

"Yea, let's run like hell and hope he won't find us." Josh nodded in approval. "I don't want to admit it, but those 'things' sure came at one hell of a good time."

"You're the one to talk…" Helene mumbled incoherently.

The three survivors ran out the door, leaving Nemesis to fend off the reptilian creatures, hoping they'd be able to hold off the brute long enough for them to get as far away as possible.

Nemesis let out another enraged growl and slowly approached the lizard creatures. One of the reptilian creatures immediately lashed out at Nemesis with its claws, slashing at Nemesis' stomach part tearing away at its flesh and leather coat. This strangely did nothing to even faze the brutish monster and it retaliated by grabbing the much shorter creature by its face with a steel hard grip. It then tossed the creature like a rag doll and made it crash through one of the crates. The other two reptile monsters pounced at Nemesis while letting out their loud deafening shrieks. Nemesis swatted one of them from the air with seemingly no effort while the other one got a slash into Nemesis' shoulder. In retaliation Nemesis grabbed the still standing reptile by its throat and stuck its free hand onto its face. Instantly one of the tentacles hidden under the coat sleeve burst out through the reptile's face, decimating the brain and caused viral blood to spray from the hole in the creature's head. Nemesis then retracted the tentacle back into its arm and tossed the disposed reptile away like a piece of garbage.

The other two reptilian monsters had recovered from the attacks they had sustained from the brutal Nemesis. The one Nemesis had thrown through one of the wooden crates maniacally ran at Nemesis with its right arm extended backwards. Nemesis thrust out its right arm to grab the creature, but it suddenly jumped and landed behind Nemesis, ready to thrust out its claws. But then Nemesis turned its waist with its fist outstretched and slammed it right into the reptile's face, emanating a sickening sound of bones cracking and organs being mashed. The reptile monster was thrown several feet away with its head completely crushed, blood and brain matter oozing from the several gashes in its scaly skin. The last of the reptilian creatures vainly attempted to slash at Nemesis' waist, but its arm was grabbed with lightning fast reflexes and with another sickening sound of skin and muscle tearing, the whole arm was torn off its shoulder. The reptile collapsed onto the floor, writhing and shrieking in pain with blood spraying out from where its arm used to be. With no feeling of remorse or possibly anything else, Nemesis lifted its boot covered foot and stomped it down onto the writhing creature's chest, crushing all the bones and organs inside. Nemesis then lifted both arms up and roared as if triumphant from victory over the three reptile creatures.

Nemesis' victory howl was audible all the way the three survivors had made it to, around a block away from the factory. The plain knowledge of the monster's presence was enough to send chills up and down their spines and fearing the possibility of seeing it again.

"Don't listen, just run." Ricky instructed, trying his best to stay calm.

"Won't that thing comes after us?" Josh asked worriedly.

"Let's hope not." Ricky replied. "It may be big and brutal, but I can tell it's not stupid. I suggest we continue on before it finds us."

"Which way should we go?" Helene asked.

Once again Ricky drew the map of Raccoon City from his pants' pocket and opened it. "Let's see, we were moving down this street…" He silently spoke tracing their steps. After a little while he looked down the way they were running. "We could go down two blocks from here and make a turn onto the street we were previously at." He explained.

"Alright. I just hope 'he's' not around at that point." Josh agreed.

"And we gotta stay sharp around these parts." Ricky added. "Now with those lizard freaks prowling around."

"Yea. What were they anyway?" Josh asked, not expecting an answer.

"Obviously more of Umbrella's creations. No doubt it." Ricky replied without much consideration since everything he had seen in the past two days were his employers' experiments. "Best for you to keep that shotgun ready."

Josh did as suggested and un-strapped his Remington shotgun. "Sure, why not? I've got loads of shells for this baby." He said with a grin.

"Okay, onwards kids." Ricky said taking the front followed closely by Helene and Josh kept some distance serving as the rear guard.

Back at the abandoned factory, Nemesis slowly made it way out of the door it had punched down just recently when pursuing the three well armed humans. Unfortunately for it, none of its previous targets were eliminated; they had escaped while it did battle with the three reptilian monsters. Even though with a body built to take impossible amounts of punishment, the brute of a being had not forgotten them. If it were to run into those three humans again, it was going to finish them off for good… It suddenly felt a set of presences nearby. Not too sure, but the ones emanating from beyond its vision felt familiar to it. It was sure it had done battle with the owners of this presence, being reminded of a set of burn wounds it sustained much earlier. With a growl of anger, it began walking away from the factory grounds in a seemingly faster pace. This target was much more interesting that those last three, it wanted to find them and make them face their fates.

"Lucifer… Kill…"

-

"Hey Ricky." Josh spoke.

"What's up kid?" Ricky responded glancing back at Josh.

"I've been thinking… Ya think we should look for evidence on this incident?" Josh asked.

"Evidence?" Ricky asked, the newly presented subject being of interest to the young mercenary.

"Yea, cause I for one am not letting Umbrella get away with this shit." Josh responded with a more aggravated tone. "Sure, I haven't lost anything to those bastards, but I still don't want Helene's family's and any other Raccoon civilian's death being avenged."

Hearing those words from the teenager's mouth, Ricky came to a halt and turned to look at Josh with a surprised expression. Helene was also struck by Josh's words, but deep down she felt a wave of joy for someone wanting to avenge her loved ones who were taken from her by the T-virus.

"I'm serious." Josh continued. "I say we gather up incriminating evidence from out destination if possible. Hell, just finding a camera ant taking snapshots of the hell going on here would be good as well." Josh clenched his fingers into a fist while letting his true feelings out. "Umbrella can't get away with this incident. Who knows when a second one occurs and more people are lost!"

"Good point there kid." Ricky replied admittedly. "But that's only if our destination is anyhow linked to this incident. Our top priority is to escape this shit hole, so no complaining if there isn't any evidence in our destination."

"Roger that." Josh said with a nod.

The survivors continued onwards through the slightly dimmed side street. Josh took additional peeks over his shoulder in case they were being pursued by Nemesis, or maybe something else, like the inexplicably large insects, the hideous Lickers or those reptilian monsters they saw back at the factory. The awkward thought was that if it weren't for those things, they might have still been inside the factory wasting their precious ammunition on just one monster. The last thing they wanted was to be thankful to some half-minded monster that only cared about eviscerating anything living that came its way.

So far no monsters, not even zombies had crossed their paths. But there were a few remarkable signs on the presence of the undead. Behind a set of concrete steps was a large speck of blood, probably from one of the earlier zombie attacks before the outbreak had hit its peak since it was dried and there was no sign of a corpse. It had either been moved away of it had gotten up by itself… Other signs were the numerous bullets cartridges and smaller specks of blood found throughout the street, so there might had been a battle the humans had lost and were only joined to the ranks of the dead. The most notable sign was the distant moans coming from all sides from the area. The wind must had been carrying them over to the survivor's location.

"This is not right…" Josh thought, his eyes darting from left to right. "It's too calm. I swear to God there's something close-by."

The survivors continued on with Josh not confessing his intuition of sensing something nearby. Little did they know he was more than just right. Something was approaching form above… The moans from beyond the street did a great job on deafening the creature's clawing on the wall it was clung onto, waiting for a perfect moment to strike.

"Ricky, I think there's something out here." Josh spoke silently while looking around in several directions.

"Huh?" Ricky took a look around the surroundings, not being able to spot or hear anything unusual. "I don't see anything…" He said.

"Yea me neither, but I can bet there's something here." Josh spoke whisperingly.

"You sure you didn't imagine it?" Ricky asked, not entirely convinced, but at the same time unsure on his belief.

"I dunno. I just feel like we're being watched." Josh replied uneasily. "And I've had enough surprises for one day."

"We still got a long way to go, so don't go loosing yourself out here alright?" Ricky asked looking at Josh over his shoulder.

"I'm sure I won't. I've seen enough death out here." Josh responded; the sights of deaths brought back to mind. He could understand when someone fought in war and saw his comrades, acquaintances and even friends being killed all around you. This was however far different from any normal war, the zombies and unworldly monsters making it harder to stay calm just from the sight of them. It was all due to their horrified looks, their relentless will to feed and the lack of remorse. The deaths experienced here were far more horrifying than anything else.

"Hsssshhhh!"

That sudden hiss froze all three survivors in their tracks. Only one monster in Raccoon City possessed this kind of call. No doubt, it was a Licker, the skinless monsters with long tongues that had injured Matt back at the shooting range. Josh and Ricky both had their share of experience on these things. Ricky had seen three of them inside the building his unit was dropped off to during the start of the mission. They had taken out two grunts before one of his teammates had the mind to toss a grenade near them, getting two of them crippled while the last one was easily dealt with by the large number of soldiers. Josh on the other hand had his first encounter with them alone, almost having it end up being his last, hadn't Cranky come out and saved him.

Despite their possible advantage in number, Lickers were much more cunning compared to zombies of the giant insects, therefore making them the most dangerous creatures they had come up to. They couldn't quite put their finger on the reptile creatures since staying to watch Nemesis pound them to death was not something they would have wanted to audience.

"Don't make any sudden noises." Ricky whispered while cautiously trying to find the direction of the monster.

Josh and Helene made sure of that while turning off their gun safeties with tremendous care instead of the fast audible procedure. They too looked round in any direction, trying their best to keep their breathing silent. Lickers had their enhanced hearing ability, so any noise emanated from them would be a dead give away. Before they were even aware of the Licker's location something pounced from the left side building as a green blur. This along with a sudden sound of skin tearing startled the survivors to a high degree, making Helene gasp silently.

"Oh dear God!" Josh hissed seeing what the blur had turned out to be.

Clung onto the wall was another one of the green reptilian creatures back from the factory, having its claws driven through a Licker's torso. The Licker convulsed from the pain of the entry wounds and started to cringe by its limbs. The reptilian monster leaped backwards pulling its claws out of the wall and Licker's torso, letting the pierced monster fall dead onto the ground with a bloody splat. The monster landed opposite of the Licker's corpse perfectly onto its bending frog-like feet. Now being in more adequate lighting, they saw the monster's traits much more clearly. The monster stared at the survivors with its white slit eyes for less than a second before rushing out at the largest one.

"Shit!" Ricky hissed and opened fire on the monster.

Stunningly the reptile leapt to the side to avoid the shots from the M4A1 Carbine assault rifle, as if knowing what a weapon was meant to do.

"Jeez, these things are probably worse than the Lickers…" Josh thought keeping his shotgun trained at the monster from waist level, not having too much distance between it and him. "No time for that!" He fired a blast from his Remington, catching the monster in the chest, but it wasn't even enough to knock the monster off its feet. It merely shrieked from pain for a split second and turned its attention to Josh.

With a deafening screech the monster leapt like a frog, flying over the survivors with its large left arm extended backwards for a slash.

"I don't think so!" Ricky snarled aiming his assault rifle upwards and firing three repeated three-shot-bursts.

As the monster began to come down, Josh quickly skipped backwards fearing the monster could still slash at him. Much to his luck, the bursts were enough to injure it and it fell painfully onto the street, bones cracking from all around its beaten body. For a finisher Josh trained his shotgun at the monster's face, chambered another shell into it and blasted the monster's face, spurting blood, brains and bone fragments everywhere. Satisfied of having the monster eliminated for good, he pumped the shotgun and clicked the safety back on.

"Scumbag…" Josh grumbled glaring at the decapitated monster with a hatful gaze.

"Aw shit…" Ricky suddenly hissed looking off into the distance where they were headed.

"What's the matter?" Helene asked.

"Looks like we're not getting outta here too easily." Ricky grumbled keeping his assault rifle at eye level.

The teenagers looked into Ricky's gaze's direction, gasping from the sight with Josh hurriedly bringing his shotgun to eye level. Four additional of those reptilian creatures were rushing towards the survivors with crazed expressions plastered on their hideous faces. They must have heard the commotion and chose to come out of hiding and slaughter them. If these monsters possessed the knowledge of dodging ammunition, then they must have known that where guns go off, there's bound to be humans.

"We're always on the bottom of the food chain in this hell!" Josh growled keeping his shotgun trained at the creatures, ready to pull the cool smooth trigger when the distance between him and them were to lessen.

"Give 'em everything you got kids! Don't let any of them touch you with those claws!" Ricky ordered demandingly. With a roar of rage, Ricky opened fire on the monsters, not caring if they were able to dodge his shots. He was determined to drop every last one of them or die trying.

-

A/N: I know it took me one hell of a long time to post a twelve pager, but WoW's been keeping me busy and ignoring my beloved story. I'm gonna take a long break from that game and focusing all my computer time on RE: Genome. The story's plot is close to thicken in the close coming chapters. I'm actually wondering if anyone's wondering why this is called Resident Evil: Genome. Well, I promise you'll find out soon enough. The nightmare is far from over…


	18. Chapter 18: Toxic Fortress

Chapter 18: Toxic Fortress

The reptilian creatures continued rushing at the three survivors despite having bullets fired right at them in rapid succession. The creatures' skin was built to handle damage to a certain degree, even gunshots were not fatal from a large distance, but up-close the bullets could easily pierce their scales. However, fighting them in close quarters was a death wish due to the large eight inch claws they bared in their hands and feet.

"Don't come any closer!" Ricky cried furiously through the gunfire of his and Helene's assault rifles. The gun then clicked empty after a few seconds. With a swift motion he ejected the spent clip and fastened a fresh one.

Helene may not have been a gun pro, but even her semi-auto shots were taking some hits on the reptiles, thanks to the scope aiming module that was mounted onto her rifle. It made attacking from a distance much easier and efficient, but her gun seemed to lack firepower as not matter how many shots she nailed into the reptiles, they didn't seem too bothered. They did stop for a split second, but continued their relentless assault.

One of the reptilian monsters leaped onto the building on the left side of the survivors and propelled itself with its strong legs, right towards the survivors. Josh answered with a buckshot from his shotgun, blasting the monster out of the air with a burst of blood and onto the pavement. The creature miraculously lifted itself off the ground and let out a high-pitched screech before running at the survivors again.

Now the four reptilian creatures had closed the distance between themselves and the survivors into striking range. The survivors had no choice but to back away slowly while continuing to fire. It was astonishing how much damage these things could withstand; they had surely been riddled with hundreds of bullet wounds by now. Nonetheless they still kept coming.

Now with the creatures in his firing range, Josh could utilize his shotgun to its full potential. Keeping it at waist level he trained it at the closest reptile. With another buckshot, the creature was sent flying backwards with two thirds of its skull obliterated.

"I'm out!" Helene yelled through the gunfire and recurring screeches as she slowly made her way backwards.

"Take cover!" Josh commanded and blasted another creature in the chest. The monsters howled from pain before it lashed out with its claws. Josh was barely able to back-step the attack and the slash tore fabric from his t-shirt and leather jacket. The claws tips managed to scar his stomach, making Josh growl from the stinging sensation. "Bitch!" He snarled and blasted the creature again, toppling it off its feet. Quickly chambering another shell he stepped forward and blasted the creature a third time while it was still downed.

"Josh, watch out!" Ricky shouted.

With a yelp Josh threw himself to the side to avoid a swipe from above. Ricky helped out with two bursts from his rifle into the creature's neck and face, making it fall onto the ground dead. The downed reptile on the other hand rose back up only to be blasted back down with a third buckshot, ending its life for good. With the temporary threat thwarted for a little while, the survivors had the chance to reload their weapons.

"Thanks for warning me there." Josh said to Ricky while fitting fresh shells into his Remington and chambering the first.

"Don't mention it kid. I don't want you dying on me here." Ricky replied after examining his current clip and placing it back in with confidence that it will last a short riot.

"Yea, we'll die here only if Hell freezes over." Josh chuckled taking the chance to inspect his magnum. He shook the casing onto his palm with one shot still usable while the others were empty. He placed the fresh one into the chamber while letting the spent fall on the ground with resounding "clinks".

"Unless it's already frozen…" Helene grumbled while she fastened a filled clip into her Steyr AUG.

Josh couldn't help but groan from annoyance of Helene's un-optimistic views of the situation. If they had made it this far just by sticking together and cooperating with each other and other survivors, what would stop them from succeeding in their ultimate escape? They were safe in their group of three and were armed with high quality and destructive weapons, some being for genuine military ops.

"Okay then. Let's phrase it this way." Josh began. "We'll find the chemical hole, find your cure, get an escape craft and go home for tea." He spoke eliciting a chuckle from Ricky.

"That's why I like ya. So damn stubborn and optimistic all the way." Ricky spoke proudly. "You should take some lessons from him Helene."

"But… I just can't." Helene responded gloomily. "No matter what I try or hear, it doesn't change anything. My whole family was killed out here and I just feel as if I'm going to die too." She sniffed.

"Aw jeez." Josh mumbled looking at Helene's sorrow face. "Helene, I can only offer you my deepest condolences, but you can't loose hope no matter what happens. I was able to get this far by believing and sticking with you two. If it hadn't been for you, I might have died a long time ago."

"But I haven't done anything useful." Helene responded. "I'm just weak and a coward."

"On the contrary." Ricky spoke up. "You just landed perfect shots on these uglies and not to mention that one headshot on that insect back there, you're fucking incredible."

"Yea, and you saved mine and Alyssa's ass back in the subway." Josh added. "Even for your first two days of gun-handling, you're a fast learner."

"Y-you mean it?" Helene asked, not half believing what those two were telling her.

"Yea, so don't give up just yet. We'll get outta here." Josh assured.

Helene stood up from her kneeling position and stared Josh right in the eyes. "You promise?" She asked.

Josh smiled warmly and said, "Yea, I promise."

"C'mon, go for it!" Ricky whispered eagerly to Josh.

"Okay, what's say we mosey outta here?" Josh asked both of his fellow survivors.

"You messed it up big time kid…" Ricky grumbled annoyed that his hope for the two teens didn't come together.

"What was that?" Josh asked curiously.

"Nothing."

The two survivors continued their way over the reptile corpses and were back on track. On the more quiet stroll they came across a horribly mutilated corpse that let out a disgusting smell of decay, indicating that zombies might be close-by. Trying their best to ignore the putrid stench, they marched on, passing small shops and bars on the way including a porn parlor. No one wanted to imagine what it was like in those buildings. They just had to be full of corpses or maybe even live zombies. The most horrifying thought might have been seeing a zombie that was formerly a stripper. The stench and their relentless will to feed was frightening enough, but their decaying bodies gave them their worst features like hanging intestines, lipless or completely skinless faces. Josh couldn't help but shiver of the thoughts of getting too close to those things anytime soon.

Occasionally the survivors had to down a few zombies loitering in the side streets, their number seemingly low, probably due to their lack of food. The zombies usually hung around in areas where people gathered, but once their prey moved away, they would eventually move away aimlessly until they came up to anything living. Because of the outbreak had far gone over the line, there might have been the possibility of the undead escaping city limits and into neighboring towns. Josh could only hope the government had wind of the incident and would send in National Guard to stop the zombies from infesting the surrounding towns, or the entire state for that matter.

Throughout the stroll down the side streets, Helene couldn't help but make occasional glances towards Josh. In her own opinion, Josh truly was an amazing individual, being the same age as her and already able to handle such abnormal circumstances due to his stubbornness and extraordinary combat skills. There were a very few teenagers in the world who could fight like the young Ellington. With any gun the boy was in possession, he could take down any undead being with almost a hundred percent accuracy. But not only that, the sheer strength he possessed was astounding. She had seen Josh lay a few toppled zombies to waste with a plain football-style kick and could gain distance with those thrust kicks she had seen execute from time-to-time.

Despite his brute force and military skill, Josh was a kind caring person who was willing to put his own life on the line for someone else, reminding her of soldiers and other young heroes from movies who always achieved something with sheer determination. Josh's kind and gentle side was something to admire. He had consoled her a few times in the past few days, achieving to keep her spirits up. When he really meant it, Josh's words were real life savers.

In the looks department, Helene admitted seeing Josh as a handsome guy. His dark brown hair which covered half of his neck and sometimes shaded his green eyes gave him a mysterious complexion. When enraged those green eyes looked like those of a rabid animal, but when normal, they looked so clear and charming. It was a wonder why Josh wasn't involved with anyone. With looks like those, he was sure to be a girl magnet. Maybe if… when they escape, maybe she should ask the boy out.

"Yea, that's what I'll do." She thought, a smile appearing on her lips.

"So, when should we turn to the main road?" Josh asked.

"After the next block should be fine." Ricky replied, keeping lead of the teenagers as usual. "The side streets may give cover from zombies, but when dealing with those lizards and Lickers, we should continued in a wide open area." He added.

"Good point there man." Josh nodded. They had been in the side streets for a little while now and the small zombie population indicated the area being partly clean of the undead. However, when emphasizing the more dangerous creatures, the side streets were closer to a deathtrap. So far they had only seen one Licker and four of those reptile monsters. Though the might have been carrying awesome firepower, it was of no use if they were dead.

"Don't worry kids, the storage facility shouldn't be far now." Ricky assured glancing back at his younger companions. "We'll find that cure and hopefully secure a chopper."

"Wait, did you say chopper!" Josh asked suddenly astonished.

"Yea, Alyssa told me they hauled various appliances and tools via chopper. If we're lucky there might be one stationed."

"Hallelujah." Josh sighed, relieved they might hopefully make it out after their mission on finding Helene's cure was accomplished. "But what if there is no escape chopper?"

"We'll figure somethin' out kid." Ricky replied. "Umbrella's got more secrets than you might think. Who knows if there are escape vehicles left for employees precisely for this kinda predicament?"

"Well, they must pack a lot of surprises those Umbrella shit heads." Josh remarked sharply.

"I see what you mean." Ricky agreed.

"So Ricky, what're you gonna do after this is over?" Josh asked.

"First I'm getting you and Helene home. Afterwards I'm going to visit a certain friend of mine." Ricky replied.

"A friend?" Josh asked curiously.

"Yep. I have a friend in very high places who could help me with taking out Umbrella. Also I plan on sniffing out any survivor of this incident and offering them much needed assistance." Ricky explained. "Me and Kevin made a deal on that and planned on a meeting should we escape."

"Are you sure you guys can put an end to this just like that?" Josh asked.

"Don't worry. We've got an ex-Umbrella employee and an investigate reporter on our side. Not to mention all the evidence they had. So in other words, if we make use of your evidence idea, we could blow this thing wide open. Not to mention we've got S.T.A.R.S on our side."

"S.T.A.R.S?" Josh asked.

"They were the first ones to find out about Umbrella's affairs. A few of them survived the mansion incident I told you about earlier. Kevin informed me that three of them had made it out of the city long before the outbreak had hit its peak." Ricky explained.

"Ah, gathering up the fighting team against Umbrella?" Josh asked, guessing he was right.

"Yup. Now all we gotta do is hope everyone else makes it out too. No matter how stubborn or well armed you are, there's no guarantee."

The survivors continued until they came to the end of the block. This was where they were designated to return to the main road. They had to continue down that street eight blocks and take a left turn to Gerard St. Ricky had been told the storage facility was an isolated building surrounded by a wide net fence. It wouldn't have been hard to miss since the fence was bound to have those warning signs which told people to stay away. The survivors made the turn, but they then stumbled upon a small group of zombies that had congregated there. They immediately began to hobble towards the three survivors with their arms outstretched.

"Not on your afterlife." Josh growled. He took a step towards the zombie with his shotgun trained upwards. Upon pulling the trigger, the zombie's head was completely obliterated.

The other zombies continued their relentless approach despite the powerful weapons their prey possessed. Ricky decided to save his assault rifle ammo for the time being and drew the more powerful Mk.23 SOCOM handgun given to him by Helene exchange for his Sig PRO. He expertly aimed at one of the rotting foul smelling cadavers in towards the head, the LAM making it easier. With one shot the zombie's cranium was completely blown off with chunks of brain and grayish skin flying everywhere. He then aimed it at another zombie, this one dressed in a mailman's outfit and sunk another round into its eye, the side of its face bursting with blood and bone.

Even Helene was more confidently blasting at the zombies with her Steyr AUG 9mm. As much as she despised firearms and never would have dared to use one, she was pretty talented. The gun had good accuracy, was lightweight and had very low recoil. Only bad side was getting a close-up look at the zombies' decaying faces, but as long as it granted her almost perfect headshots, it didn't matter. The important thing was surviving the battle.

Ricky blasted another zombie in the face followed by Josh turning a fat one into fertilizer with his shotgun. As he chambered another shell in, a zombie got a tad too close to him. He was fast enough to sweep kick the zombie off its feet and smash the head. Helene snipped out a zombie that was almost reaching Josh and blasted it in the forehead. Josh was then able to turn and blast two zombies down with one shot, but one of them was still capable of moving. That was taken care of when Ricky hopped and smashed the zombie's head with the soles of his boots.

"That didn't go too bad at all." Josh spoke to Helene.

"Thanks, I guess…" Helene replied, though touched, she still just couldn't picture herself with a gun.

"See how easy it is? Just hit them in the head." Josh smirked.

Helene replied with a small smile. The survivors then stopped to reload their firearms before another skirmish were to take place.

"You really should have grabbed a few spare clips." Ricky remarked fitting 45 ACP rounds into his single SOCOM clip.

"I would have, hadn't those zombies come busting in on us." Josh replied as he waited for Ricky and Helene to finish reloading. "I say I was lucky enough to find a 45 huh?"

"I suppose." Ricky replied and fastened the filled clip into the SOCOM. "Well I'm ready to go. How 'bout you two?"

"Locked and loaded." Josh replied with a grin.

"Just a sec." Helene said with her AUG raised upwards with one hand and she fastened the clip into the magazine cache. "Whose bright idea was it to make the clip go in the back anyway?"

"Some Austrian's." Josh shrugged. "Be grateful, that's one of the best assault rifles in the world."

"Whatever. You can call it whatever you please. When we're out of here, I'm not touching a gun as long as I live." Helene commented.

"Too bad." Josh said shaking his head. "If you continue like me, you might become a famous female soldier. Just think about all the famous women you'd end up with."

"I think I'll decline that." Helene replied with a small smile.

"Wow, you two are getting somewhere." Ricky whispered to Josh with a mischievous smirk plastered on his youthful face.

"You're as relentless as the zombies when it comes to an intention." Josh remarked and walked on ahead.

The survivors entered the street with the familiar image of destroyed cars, bent lampposts, scattered trash and corpses lying all around, torn apart in various different manners. A few zombies were standing mindlessly in the area, not great in number, but should have been dealt with just in case.

Ricky couldn't help but sigh from annoyance. "I guess it's blasting time again kids." He added. "Hey Helene, can I have my Sig PRO back for a few minutes?"

Helene handed the man back his previous 9mm sidearm. "Here."

"Alright. Who wants some?" Josh asked no one in particular readying his shotgun.

Ricky began the attack by blasting the closest zombie in the back of the head. This made the other zombies hobble aimlessly in different directions, in which the three survivors took the chance to take down most of them from a safe distance.

Josh held onto his shotgun with one hand and drew his USP handgun with the other. He took aim at a zombie around seven feet away from his and downed it with a perfect shot in the head, through the middle of its eyes. Once again Ricky was impressed of seeing Josh shooting with only one hand since he had usually used both hands. The impression was enforced when Josh aimed at a farther zombie and took it out with two shots, one colliding with the upper torso and the other in the cranium.

Helene's AUG was now in its element with a lot of zombies shuffling far from her. She was able to snipe a few of them out with perfect headshots. Ricky and Josh worked on taking out the closer cadavers, both downing them with handgun fire.

"Eat lead shit heads!" Josh growled blasting an elderly zombie in the right eye.

After a short gunfight, only one zombie was left alive, crawling on the ground still trying to reach for a bit out of the survivors. Josh walked up to the zombie and callously aimed his gun at its sickly grayish head and fired his twelfth shot, releasing the once human from its suffering. "For your own good..." He whispered.

Sadly the survivors had to stop to reload yet again; except for Ricky it was easier since he used his Sig PRO. He just discarded the emptied clip from the handgun, grabbed a fresh one from his utility vest. The few minutes went past and the survivors were yet again fully loaded. Ricky gave Helene back the Sig PRO handgun to boot since he had the more powerful SOCOM now.

"Now we just head down this street until we come to a fenced perimeter. That's the target." Ricky reminded. "And stay sharp. There could be more of those lizards out here."

Ricky didn't really need to remind Josh about that. They had seen five of them in one place so it was obvious there were more of them. But now they might stand a better chance fighting them in a wide open space instead of the more cramped side streets. Josh strapped his USP into his loosened belt and kept holding his trusty Remington 870.

They began the stroll down the street, acknowledging too that it had gotten darker. Day was slowly starting to turn into night, the worst time of this ordeal. Night guaranteed more concealment for the various monsters roaming the streets of Raccoon City. Josh could only pray this simple walk down to the storage facility would go somewhat swimmingly unlike in the subway, the sewers or the alleys. This made him question how everyone else was doing.

First concerns were Jill and Carlos. Did they survive the tram crash back in Central Raccoon? If they did , had they already escaped with the evacuation chopper that was supposed to come down to the Clock Tower? Though barely knowing those two, he felt concerned for them, especially Jill, she saved him from certain doom and they both fought Nemesis together. That beauty she emanated had gotten Josh interested in her, but who was he kidding? He was too young for her anyway.

Then there were Kevin, Cindy, Alyssa, Mark, David, George, Jim and Yoko, the eight survivors he met at the Raccoon City central hospital. If it weren't for them Josh and his two friends may not have gotten out of the hospital and would have had to risk fighting through the numerous zombies that had congregated themselves around the hospital perimeter. Then the added firepower the other survivors carried made it useful against the giant leech that they encountered in the underground waterway and not to mention the numerous fleas in the subway. Josh was separated from them by some huge creature moving underground and slammed him out of the train, luckily making him land on the next platform.

Last there was Craig "Cranky" Crankurt, the red haired man Josh met back in the alleys. Josh had all the right to be grateful to him for saving him from a Licker. The two then fought their way out of the infested alleys together against the Lickers and the large insect monsters until running into Ricky and Helene. He went separate ways searching for Cindy. Josh could only hope he had found the survivors thanks to the directions Ricky supplied him with.

Now the only lives he had to defend were Ricky's, Helene's and his own. They had two more things to do before making their escape from the ruined, no destroyed Raccoon City. They had to find the T-virus vaccine to ensure Helene's survival and search for any significant and incriminating evidence to help take out the twisted pharmaceuticals enterprise. They had deceived people long enough; it was time to make those scumbags pay…

"Hey, Ricky. Are you sure your plan on exposing Umbrella will work?" Josh suddenly asked. "I mean, they're a pretty influential company and from what I know they might bribe the lawyers."

"I hope so." Ricky replied. "We gotta find the best evidence we can so that even the greediest of lawyers find it believable. Also, I think we should find the most incriminating evidence of all."

"What's that?" Josh asked curiously.

"The virus itself." Ricky replied simply.

"Hey, good plan." Josh approved. "And since we're going to an Umbrella facility, there's gotta be at least a couple hundred samples of it."

"Right on kid. And with all the evidence and information Alyssa has gathered, I'd just like to see those fuckers explain their way outta that." Ricky said in a slightly confident manner. "And given the fact we're eye witnesses too. Hell, I could go on forever with all the details on this outbreak."

"Yea, I see what you mean." Josh agreed, having seen an obscene amount of gore and bloodshed around the city, and it was probably far from over. The storage facility might also be full of zombified staff or more strange creatures spawned by the virus.

The conversation was instantly interrupted by a loud bark, revealing that an undead canine was present. The survivors hurriedly looked around their surroundings, hoping to spot the zombie canine before it got to them first. Luckily they were able to spot it coming form behind a wrecked car, accompanied by another. It was strange how those things were so fast compared to zombies with all the decayed skin and muscle tissue that was barely even holding. They growled aggressively as they got closer and closer, blood and chunks meat dripping from their mouths that were so decomposed that their yellow teeth we exposed.

"Waste 'em!" Ricky hollered firing at one of them with his SOCOM, instantly dropping the decaying dog for good with three shots.

The other dog went in for a charge and attempted to leap at Ricky's throat, but before it had gotten fully off the ground the front part of its body was decimated by a shotgun blast courtesy of Josh who then instinctively chambered another shell.

"How'd ya like that you stinking shits?" Josh asked the obliterated dog corpse.

Just then a window from the building to the survivor's right crashed open with another mad canine leaping down onto the ground. Amazingly its leg tissue held from the impact and the dog came rushing towards Helene who screamed in response and tried firing at the dog, but almost all shots were misses. Josh leapt to the side and blasted the dog down with a buckshot to the rear. The dog was still alive, but all it could do was uselessly drag itself with its front paws, leaving a trail of intestines.

Helene breathed hard looking at the horrifying creature still trying to relentlessly take a bit out of her. She shakily aimed with her AUG and with one trigger pull the dog was put down for good.

"That one really came as a surprise." Ricky sighed looking at the back limbs lacking corpse. "Let's not mourn for now and keep going. We've still got seven blocks to pass."

"Yea," Helene agreed shakily, trying her best to clam down from the shock. "Let's."

The survivors continued their stroll down the road, occasionally having to lay waste the few zombies loitering around. Luckily their amount didn't seem to be rising as it would have been dangerous trying to fight through them if it would come to that. All three survivors had learned that the hard way, Josh having run into a large horde of zombie with Cranky and when Matt was still among the living, they were surrounded by the undead. Because of them, Matt had no choice but to sacrifice himself to avoid endangering the others when he would have transformed.

Ricky was still shook up on the death of his comrade, but understood that Matt had gone to a better place, not suffering anymore. Almost all of his fellow soldiers had perished in this ordeal, some went missing and were probably already dead. So far he and possibly Carlos, had he made it out of the train crash were the only U.B.C.S troops left alive in the city. But he still had his duties to carry out, something that made him feel a little bit better.

"So many good men gone… All for what? Money of course. That's what makes us do foolish things sometime. I've learned the hard way to not sign up on some suicide mission just 'cause I'd be promised a huge sum of cash." Ricky thought. "Of all the stupid things I've ever done, this has go to be the grandest." He then looked at Josh and Helene who walked beside him. "But then again, hadn't I come, these two might be dead. No one that young deserves that, especially like this…"

Josh callously laid down another zombie with a headshot, having strapped the Remington back on the make walking easier. He was only fifteen years old and had no genuine combat experience, but now he could prove anyone wrong. He understood it all due to this disaster. Bloodshed, terror, death, those were the main principles of war. He was fighting in a war considered by anyone sane improbable. He turned out to be one of the youngest people in the world to find out with his own eyes what death was like, along with Helene and all other kids and teenagers who were trapped inside the city. Only difference only him, Helene and maybe a few lucky ones were still alive. The only good it did was make his skills sharper and the sight of terror and the relentless undead had begun to harden his senses.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the familiar ringing of a shot rang out, downing another zombie. This one was downed by Ricky who just casually aimed at the closer undead and dropped them. Then to occupy himself, he ejected the clip and filled it up to full with 45 ACP rounds. Josh himself was doing well with ammo since he still had eleven shots left in his USP and Helene had around twenty-one or so from what he counted from the shots Helene fired at the zombie dog back there.

The sky had dimmed a tad more. Josh looked down at his watch and saw that it was six thirty and this being fall, it got darker earlier. His friends back at Lush Acres were probably still hanging out, either hitting on girls or just lazing. He couldn't help but chuckle at all the things they did together. He at least still had a home which to return to. The thought of Helene's sorrow made him sadden at the thought of her never going home again, never seeing her beloved parents or brother ever again. All he could offer her were his deepest condolences.

"I sure as hell am helping her settle in Lush Acres after this. She deserves all the help she can get." He thought darting his gaze towards Helene.

Helene glanced at Josh, noticing he was looking at her.

"What is it Josh?" She asked concerned.

"It's nothing…" Josh shrugged off. "Other than being sadder than ever before in my life." He thought.

"Aw hey, c'mon! Let's lighten the mood a little huh?" Ricky suddenly broke the depressing silence, once again taking a shot at a nearby zombie.

"A little hard while trying to keep your eyes on those rotting bags of shit from biting." Josh remarked shooting another nearby cadaver with his USP.

"Damn straight." Helene added.

Just then something up ahead caught the survivor's eyes. Up ahead in the road sat a large, white truck with a matching cargo container. It was swerved onto the street so that they could clearly see the side. The world painted onto it and the two matching logos were the biggest eye catchers.

"Speak of the devil." Josh murmured looking at the large vehicle with a hateful expression.

On the side of the truck in bold, black letter read the name of the causer of this whole mess: "Umbrella Inc." with the familiar red and white umbrella logo emblazoned on each side of the name. The rear doors of the cargo container had been thrown open.

"What'd ya suppose they were carrying?" Josh asked.

"Probably chemicals to that storage plant were headed to…" Ricky replied, his eyes widening afterwards from an idea. "Hey, maybe the key's in the ignition." He then jogged over to the vehicle.

Josh and Helene immediately followed. Ricky pulled on the driver's side door, and much to his luck it opened. He suddenly gasped from pure horror and shock. On the seat sat the former driver of the vehicle, missing his head. Also the windshield had been smashed open and blood had been sprayed onto the backrest of the drivers seat and some had landed on the passenger side seat. The passenger side seat had been opened and the glove box had been opened.

"Ricky, what's the matter?" Helene asked trying to look inside.

"Uh, let's just say you don't want to see this." Ricky responded in a shivered tone. "Could you turn around for a few minutes please?" He asked glancing back at Helene.

Getting the familiar feeling of dread, Helene obediently turned around. Ricky then took hold of the dead driver's arm and yanked him out of his seat. Normally Ricky would have detested touching a corpse like that, but he needed space and he didn't want his teenage friends to see the beheaded man. He pulled the corpse out of the truck, letting it hit the ground, blood spurting from its neck. Ricky then grabbed the driver's legs and dragged him over and behind another junked up car and left it there. He then walked back over to the truck.

"Okay it's safe now." Ricky announced.

Helene turned back now seeing inside the truck. "What was it?" She reluctantly asked.

Ricky looked at Helene with a fake disgusted look and said, "Trust me, you don't wanna know."

Josh out of curiosity walked besides the cargo container, wondering what was inside of the truck or better yet, why were the doors of the container opened? He walked around the door, peeking inside, but what he saw made his blood run cold and his eyes widened from fear… He slowly and very cautiously stepped backwards until he was away from the door and rushed over to Ricky.

"Dude, I don't think we should be taking this." Josh spoke, his face plastered with a look of terror.

"Why? Is there something hazardous back there?" Ricky asked.

While the men were having their conversation, Helene had climbed into the truck and sat down on the passenger's seat. The opened glove compartment however was in the way of her legs, so she pushed it shut and placed her legs down to their respective spot, but they made contact with something. Helene curiously looked down… and saw a severed, bloody head of a man, its mouth agape and its eyes showing a look a pure horror. And it was lifelessly staring back at her!

Upon seeing the severed head Helene screamed of pure terror, startling Josh and Ricky outside the truck. She scooted herself towards the backrest of the passenger seat, her breathing almost halting completely.

"Helene!" Ricky called out spooked, but then a loud shriek made him divert his attention… to the cargo container.

"Does that qualify as hazardous?" Josh asked shakily, his limbs paralyzed from fear which made him unable to reach for his shotgun.

"No shit Sherlock!" Ricky snapped hurriedly un-strapping his assault rifle.

Several rapid footsteps emanated from within the cargo container. The two survivors already had a good hunch on what was hiding inside. A familiar green and red crouch positioned creature leapt out from the container's confines, followed by several more in tow. Around six of the reptilian creatures emerged, all hungrily staring towards the two human survivors, one with a gun pointed at the lot of them, the other staring with a horrified expression. Driven by their feral instincts, the reptilian monsters rushed and leapt towards the two survivors.

Ricky immediately began barraging the reptiles with his M4A1 Carbine, but with so many targets considered far more deadlier compared to even the Lickers, he was beginning to feel that his time had come.

"Swell, I'm only twenty-four and I'm already gonna die…" He thought trying to keep himself calm and continued firing bursts at the reptiles that came form all directions.

Josh, suddenly driven by an obscene rush of adrenaline, drew his S&W 686 magnum and held it with one hand while keeping hold onto his USP. He tried to aim as precisely as possible at one of the madly jumping and screeching reptiles until he finally pulled the trigger. The recoil was now harder to handle using the powerful high caliber revolver with only one hand. The bullet did luckily strike one of the creatures in the upper thigh, making it topple on the pavement screeching from pain. At least one was out of commission at least for now. Josh barely had time to react when another reptile came at him. He was able to sidestep the vertical slash the creature delivered and retaliated with five rapid shots from the USP. The monster stepped back from each shot, but it still kept its head up casting a ferocious glare towards Josh. It was sure to regain in a matter of seconds.

Before Josh had time to finish off the monster, another one came from behind him with a towering leap over him. Josh could only let out a frightened scream seeing the creature's blood marred claws that were about to be sunk into his head. A series of rapid fire then rang out striking the creature while it was still airborne. This resulted in the creature falling a few mere inches away from Josh, growling aggressively from the pain. Josh took the opportunity and blasted the monster in the head with a shot from the magnum, the recoil throwing his arm upwards.

Ricky was forced to reload his rifle. He had gotten the clip ejected, but with the remaining lizards still hopping around and getting in closer a few times made it impossible to even try reaching for a fresh clip. He had no choice but to resort to using his SOCOM, dropping his M4A1 onto the pavement for the time being. It was not as quick in firing speed, but at least it had decent firepower and a full clip consisting of twelve Colt 45 ACP rounds. He fired two shots at one of the reptiles, surely injuring it, but the creature only cried out while clenching its clawed fingers and it continued the assault.

Back inside the truck Helene was still staring back down at the severed head, a horrified expression plastered onto her face. She breathed hard while listening to the gunfire and high pitched shrieks and occasional cusses form outside. She slowly looked out through the driver's side window without moving away from the passenger seat. She spotted Josh using both of his handguns trying to fend off two attackers at the same time.

"Die fuck!" Josh cried wildly firing at one of the approaching monsters, injuring and angering it to an even higher extent. Before he was done firing at the monster, his USP only let out audible 'clicks'. "Shit! Not now!" He gasped looking at his handgun wide eyed.

He turned his attention back at the lizard, just in time to see it swiping at him. He hopped backwards to avoid the claws, but the extended bony blades still struck something, but it was not a part of the boy's body. The sheer force of the creature's swipe had slammed the USP out of his grasp, the barrel detaching from the grip along with all the other parts it contained. They all fell onto the pavement with resounding "Clanks!" and "Dings!". Josh stared in utter horror seeing the creature lay his handgun to waste with one swipe and he was next.

The reptile retracted its arm back and prepared to deliver the killing blow. That's when something snapped within Josh…

"Aaargh!" He yelled furiously and thrust kicked the monster in the face. This startled the monster and made it step backwards, only to have its face obliterated by two shots in a row. Josh breathed heavily after that immense adrenaline rush, the recoil of the magnum not even affecting him for that split second.

Josh then remembered the other reptile that was standing there along with the one he had just killed, but the reptilian monster had disappeared. He frantically looked around for it, because if it got those claws into him, he'd be dead in a few minutes due to blood loss or injury to a vital organ.

Helene saw all that from inside the truck, the way Josh just unexpectedly kicked the monster reptile and even finished it off with such ferocity. But now the second reptile was the problem. It had disappeared all of a sudden. However, the resounding banging of metal diverted Helene's attention from Josh and onto one of the wrecked cars in front of the truck. The reptile stood there crouched down, preparing to jump and tear Josh to pieces. Helene began to panic. She had to usher the strength to do something or Josh was going to end up with all the rest of the victims of this disaster. She ushered herself to grab her Steyr AUG lying on the floor of the truck near the pedals. As she got up into a sitting position to aim, the monster made its move. It sprung out its legs, lifting it high from the ground, its right arm's claws retracted for the killing blow.

"Josh!" Helene cried. She threw herself over the passenger seat to keep the reptile in her line of aim. She began to pull the trigger numerous times.

Josh looked towards the truck hearing Helene calling his name, but then his attention diverted towards the airborne reptile. He let out an audible gasp and began stepping backwards. As the creature was high over him, numerous gunshots rang out, bullets tearing through the creature's body. Josh instinctively dived to the right to avoid the monster. The impact did sting his arms and chest a little, but at least he was alive and well. He quickly stood back up and aimed his magnum towards the monster which had fallen onto its stomach and shook in pain while shrieking uncontrollably. He mercilessly aimed for the head and it was over after one shot. The monster's head exploded with blood, brains and chippings of bone.

Ricky continued evading the two last reptiles' assaults while trying to land a shot in, but they had all missed up to this point. Not to mention Ricky beginning to tire out after all the dodging he had performed. He had used up six rounds from his SOCOM, so he had six shots left.

"C'mon, stay fucking still for once!" He snarled firing another shot, but the bullet missed by an inch with the reptile only moving its self to the side. He then fired again numerous times, finally landing the last of his shots into the chest of the lizard monster. The creature faced up letting out a final ear piercing shrieked and fell on its back. A pool of blood began forming under its corpse. That left one more lizard for extermination.

The final reptile rushed out at Ricky, lashing out with its right arm's claws, barely missing Ricky's chest. Ricky took the chance to fire at the monster, but his gun only clicked upon pulling the trigger.

"Shit!" He cussed and turned to make a run for his assault rifle which laid on the ground close to him.

Upon reaching his M4A1 Carbine, he took one of his clips from his utility belt and fastened it into the gun. Right when he was pulling onto the bolt, a blast rang out from behind him. He turned back saw Josh blasting the monster a second time with his shotgun, leaving a large array of holes into the monster's chest, making it convulse violently until it stopped moving. Josh them chambered a new shell into the shotgun.

"Thought you might need a hand." He said looking down at the dead reptile. He then diverted his gaze towards the truck. "Were these things being transported?" He wondered.

"Could be." Ricky replied. "Only one way to find out." He walked over to the cargo container and took a look inside.

Inside the container was a large cage, with its three inch thick bars bent open outwardly, as if the monsters had bust their way out. On the cage was a bright yellow sign that read: "DANGER" and "High Voltage". Two reptile corpses were left inside the cage, indicating that they had banged onto the bars until the electricity did them in. Then the bars must have given away enough for the remaining reptiles to bust out of the truck. Also laying beside the cage was a violently mutilated corpse. Its head was missing and it bore several claws marks, one around the lower part of his neck, which must have killed him. In his bloodied hands the man grasped and broken submachine gun.

"Poor guy…" Ricky thought looking down at the corpse and shook his head slowly. As a last respect, he closed the container doors. "Even for and Umbrella employee, that's no way to go down."

"So?" Josh came up to Ricky. "What was in there?"

"I think they really were transporting those creatures." Ricky responded nodding towards the closest body of the reptile creatures. "There was an electrically charged cage and everything. But… who would transport these of all things and where?" He wondered looking at the truck's side.

"Could it be for research purposes?" Josh asked.

"I dunno about that kid. But whoever's idea this was and who decided on mass producing freaks, I just don't like where this is going…" Ricky spoke solemnly.

"Hey, we might find answers at our destination right?" Josh asked. "So how about we get in the truck and mosey there."

"Yea, you're right." Ricky nodded. "C'mon, let's go." He walked past Josh and headed for the driver's seat.

Josh followed in tow shortly after angrily glaring at the Umbrella insignia on the side of the cargo container.

As Ricky was almost to the driver's seat, he noticed a severed head lying on the road. With a look of disgust he gently kicked it away, not wanting to see anything that could remind him of those reptilian monsters. He waited for Josh to come up and climb in first and he followed afterwards. Josh sat between Ricky and Helene in order to give both people room. Ricky sat down on the comfy, but slightly bloodstained seat and turned the ignition key. The truck roared to life instantly. Ricky at first had to backtrack and position the truck to go straight forwards down the road. Afterwards the truck drove off, flattening any zombie that had gotten close.

"Hey, what's this?" Josh wondered. He reached over to the dash board and took hold of two stapled pieces of paper with the Umbrella insignia printed on the top left and right corners. He quickly read through the first page:

_B.O.W transportation procedure_

_Be sure that the electrically surged cage is activated at all times. The terminal in the driver's compartment monitors the state of the cage. Should the terminal light turn red, there has been a failure in the electrical output._

_Should there be a breach in the cage, the reinforced door should hold off most B.O.W subjects. Take extra precaution and keep distributed weapons ready at all times. The weapons consist of:_

_1. MP-5 sub-machinegun_

_2. 2X Beretta M93R burst mechanism included handguns_

_3. 2X Additional MP-5 clips_

_4. 4X Additional M93R clips._

_Should the subject(s) escape, take any measures in disposing of them and cleaning out any remnants such as body parts or bodily fluids. T-virus disposer and viral suits are stored in the cabinet behind the seats._

Josh flipped the page and read through that as well:

_B.O.W subject: MA-121 Hunter Beta_

_Extremely aggressive B.O.W. Possesses a moderate threat due to improved strength, agility and the ability to dodge certain amounts of gunfire. Be extremely cautious during transportation as they have been proved to be capable of escape through steel bars. Keep the electrical output at maximum at all times. Should there be a breach, dispose of them as quickly as possible._

_Signed: Igor Stepanovitch _

Also pinned to the paper was a snapshot of one of the reptilian creatures, which Josh guessed were called 'Hunter Betas'.

"Yo Ricky, I found something that might interest ya." Josh said holding out the paper.

"Can't look now, I'm driving." Ricky replied not even glancing at Josh.

"Sorry man." Josh brought his hands up defensively. He then turned his attention to the glove compartment. "Helene, could you lift your legs up a bit?" He asked. He got no answer from the Japanese girl sitting next to him. "Helene?"

Helene suddenly looked up. "Wha? Oh, yea. Sure." She said silently and pulled her legs up to her set.

Josh opened the glove compartment, finding it to be larger than any standard truck glove compartment. It had a really wide space and was topped with foam plastic with the indentation form of the familiar MP-5 sub-machinegun and left to it an indentation of a handgun. Below that in its indentation sat a Beretta 93R handgun. Below them sat an MP-5 clip and a clip for the Beretta.

"Alright, got myself a new handgun." Josh thought triumphantly as he grabbed the handgun and the additional clip. Now he could reload in the heat of battle thanks to the additional clip since the Beretta already had one clip placed inside it. Just for precaution, Josh ejected the clip and checked did it have any bullets. Much to his anticipation, it was a full clip as well as the additional. Josh then grabbed the MP-5 clip. Though not quite sure would it be any use to him, he slipped it into his backpack just in case.

"We'll be there very soon, so don't get too comfortable there kids." Ricky announced dodging a car wreck.

"Not our intention." Helene bluntly responded looking out the passenger window.

"Something wrong?" Josh asked looking up from admiring his new handgun.

"No… well, sort of." Helene replied in a sad tone. "I couldn't do anything just because I got scared of a head…"

"A head!" Josh asked bewildered. "Where!"

"There was one on the floor." Helene replied. "As I saw it I just froze and couldn't move, not even when you two were out fighting those monsters…" A single tear escaped from Helene's eye. "I almost got you killed because of my cowardice…" She sobbed, but then a warm hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Hey, it's not your fault." Josh spoke reassuringly. "I would have been scared too. I fully get that you've never gone through something like this. Besides, I'm right here aren't I?" He asked and flashed a grin. "And you started firing at the last minute. That was able to save me since you injured the Hunter enough for me to finish it off."

"Hunter?" Helene asked, not familiar with the name.

"According to this…" Josh took the report on the Hunter Beta and looked at the name of its writer. "…Igor Stepanovitch. It had some brief info on our reptilian friends and they people at Umbrella seem to call them Hunters."

"Appropriate name isn't it?" Helene asked.

"Yea, totally…"

The car suddenly stopped moving, making the two teens bob forward a little.

"Okay kids, we're here." Ricky announced.

Josh and Helene looked out the windshield. A small one-story building sat in the middle of a wide area, covering several square meters no doubt. The building was plain grey from what they could tell in the dim lighting with a white roof that had a round shape. Also positioned on top of the roof were searchlights that continuously pointed down onto the same spot. In the middle of the wall there was a large door with lights coming out. In the opening of the fence sat a guardhouse with a closed down gate, restricting anyone to enter. Near the guard house attached to the fence was a large plate that had the Umbrella insignia on it and read with bold red letters: "Private Property" and "Stay out!". Also in the yard of the storage facility, several zombies hobbled around, accompanied by a few zombie dogs. They must have been the security staff and guard dogs.

"This is it. The final destination..." Josh thought looking on. "We're going to find that cure, and that evidence! Umbrella's gonna pay!" He thought intensely and pulled back on his Beretta 93R's barrel, chambering the first round.

-

A/N: The three survivors have finally reached their destination. In the next chapter comes the familiar snooping around the enemy's fortress while dodging zombies and other things. I hope this is getting interesting, because I for one thought long and hard for this chapter. This had possibly the second most intense battle I've ever written. The next chapter will be up shortly, despite school starting for me. I shall not let education stop me:) Please review if you think this is getting any better. (I sincerely hope it is.) Buh bye! The nightmare's far form over…


	19. Chapter 19: Enemy cruelty

Chapter 19: Enemy cruelty

Josh Ellington, Helene Nayami and Ricky Wallace stood just outside the perimeter of the Umbrella chemical storage facility, the very building they hoped was sure to house the T-virus vaccine needed for Helene. So far the only visible threats outside were the numerous zombiefied guard personnel and guard dogs. There was no doubt that inside lurked something worse, since this was an Umbrella research and chemical facility.

"Well," Ricky began as he readied his assault rifle. "I hope you're ready for this."

"As ready as I'll ever be…" Josh replied, the grip on his Beretta tightening. "I'm only fifteen yet I'm already in a war zone. Couldn't get any readier than this." He added.

"How about you Helene?" Ricky asked turning his gaze at the Japanese girl. "Are you ready for this?"

Helene stayed silent. She intently continued staring at the Umbrella building. The same company her parents work… worked for. And little did she expect along with her whole family that their employers were cruel bastards that created tools of destruction. Their product had taken her whole family. First her grandmother succumbed to the illness, dying slowly and not even remembering her own name in the end. Next to go were her mother and father Misao and Jonouchi. They left for work six days ago, and never returned, meaning they were surely eaten by Umbrella's creations. Last one to go was her older brother Osamo, who's death was by far the most horrifying of them all. He was bitten in the back by a zombie dog while climbing up a fence and fell down into the large horde of zombies, where he was eaten alive. Her brother's excruciating pained screams still rang in her ears to this moment.

"Helene?" Josh looked at her with a worried expression. "What's wrong?"

"Let's go." She replied sternly.

"You heard her. Let's rock." Ricky said enthusiastically raising his rifle to eye level. "Stay behind me and cover the rear." He instructed and began quietly treading onwards with Josh and Helene in tow.

Upon hopping over the gate, the first zombie in the guard house besides them began crazily pounding away on the reinforced glass window separating it from the outside. The survivors paid little attention to the hapless creature and continued on.

The zombies were the very least threat to the survivors since they traveled alone, farther away form each other, but the few zombie dogs walking around the perimeter were different. Like earlier witnessed, the dogs still retained their speed, agility and ferocity, attacking immediately when spotting their pray and they did it with little warning, amounting as an audible guttural growl. Ricky kept his eyes trained directly to the three dogs he had spotted while the teenagers kept their eyes on the surrounding zombies.

"If we make any noise they'll all come at us at once…" Ricky thought darting his gaze from the dogs to the zombies to his right. "Better keep this bad boy ready if it comes down to killing one of those shit bags." He reached down to the sheath on his utility belt and drew his combat knife. He then placed his hand back under the assault rifle's fore-grip with the knife sitting in between them.

Josh was able to spot Ricky drawing out his knife. This gave Josh the impression to draw his crowbar he had kept hanging from his belt for a long time now. He had been carrying that simple tool with him for two whole days, using it as his melee weapon of choice. It may have been a tool, but its length granted him the chance to strike a zombie from a safer distance than with a knife. And if he struck a zombie in the head with the teeth, the brain would be damaged. Now may have been the best time to use it, figuring that if he fired even one shot, all the zombies and dogs in the area would be on their tails.

The closest zombies finally began to react towards the survivors' presence. They began to hobble towards the survivors with their arms familiarly outstretched in order to snag them and bite into their necks. The survivors were fully aware of this, sweat beginning to surface in their scalps and flow down their skin slowly. Ricky and Josh tightened their grips on their melee weapons, their gaze darting from one zombie to another. It would only be a matter of seconds before they were too close and would be forced to strike, hell at the rate the zombies approached, they might be forced to open fire and alert the zombie dogs.

Helene took a look to her right, spotting a zombie that hadn't sensed them yet. It just blankly stood there, its body bobbing slightly from side-to-side. She then turned to look left. She let out a silent yelp, the instant Josh's crowbar's teeth pierced a zombie's forehead. It then slid backwards from the force and fell for good. Helene turned to look at Josh, who replied with a nod of assurance. They weren't sensed by the dogs just yet.

Ricky suddenly stopped, making Helene almost bump into him, hadn't Josh held her back by her shoulder. The zombies were still closing in, but they would be in a safe distance for a minute or two.

"Kids, listen. When I say so, we'll gang up on the mutts there, and then run like hell to the entrance." He explained. "Alright?"

"Yea, got it." Josh nodded and took his place besides Ricky aiming his new Beretta 93R at one of the three zombie dogs right in front of him. "Helene, stay besides me." He said glancing at Helene who stood behind him.

"Yea," She nodded in response and took her position right of Josh.

"Okay. Ready… Aim…" Ricky quietly instructed. During the use of 'aim', the three survivors aimed their weapons at one of the zombie dogs. "Fire!" He hollered and let loose a hail of bullets from his M4A1, accompanied by semi-automatic fire from Josh and Helene.

The dogs reacted by instantly charging at the survivors, but the one Ricky was aiming at was blown off its feet in mere seconds. The two other dogs continued their assault at Josh and Helene, getting bullets lodged into their decaying bodies. The semi-automatic fire wasn't proving to be much effective at first, but Helene finally managed to strike one dog off its feet. All of a sudden the other dog was leaping straight at Helene. The Japanese girl screamed of fear and shut her eyes, hoping it to be quick, but then a burst of gunfire followed, afterwards with a thump and deep breathing. Helene opened her eyes, seeing that the dog was dead with almost all of its face blown off. Then she saw from the brim of her eyes a quickly breathing Josh who held his right arm, as if spooked by something.

The downed zombie dog finally stood up on its three still functional legs, letting out a guttural growl. But before it had any time to attack, it was silenced by one shot in the head from Ricky's assault rifle.

Ricky scoffed down at the dogs. "You weren't such bad shit bags at, aargh!" He was suddenly grabbed from behind by one of the zombies that were closing in. "Bitch!" He roared grabbing hold of the zombie's wrist and flipping it over his shoulders, making it slam forcefully into the ground with a thud.

Josh began firing into the small group of zombies, not too worried of his ammo amount since the Beretta 93R carried five more shots than his destroyed USP. He became so drawn into his activity that he couldn't pay attention to anything else around him except the approaching undead. One freshly turned zombie lunged at him with higher speed that most of the more decayed zombies, but Josh merely back-stepped the lunge and fired two shots into its cranium. Then another one followed, Josh retaliating with a powerful snapping kick, knocking the zombie down on its side. Before he could continue to unload anymore lead into the zombies, his shoulder was roughly grabbed by Ricky who forcefully tugged him back.

"Forget about 'em kid! Move it!" He shouted through the many frustrated, hungered moans of the undead. He took the split second to fire at the approaching horde with his assault rifle, and then returned to pulling Josh back with him. "Make it for the door!" He shouted.

Helene was closest to the doors, but instead of following Ricky's command, she continued firing into the horde of zombies with her Steyr, fear having totally subsided from within her. She turned left and downed another approaching zombie and then returned to act as cover fire. Josh unloaded three more shots at the closest zombies before rushing behind Helene with Ricky in tow. Ricky forcefully took hold of the door's metal bar handle and yanked it open.

"Get in, now!" He yelled and continued firing at the zombies, which had began to lessen in numbers, but nevertheless, they were still dangerous.

Josh and Helene ceased firing and ran through the metal door, Ricky running in last and yanked the door shut violently. Beyond that stood another windowless metal door which was already opened and the two teenagers had already gone through it. Ricky rushed inside and Josh pushed door shut, slamming his hand onto the locking mechanism to keep the undead outside. After this all that emanated from the dim confines of the storage facility was tired pants. Josh while breathing heavily looked down at his Beretta 93R, thinking that he should fill his current clip before proceeding any further.

"Hey guys, what'd ya say we load up before moving onwards?" He asked, though obvious of the answer. Ricky was already examining his current clip of his M4A1, having used a whole clip outside. Josh assumed it must have been good to go. He himself ejected the current clip of his handgun and began placing unused cartridges into it.

"Well, this is it kids." Ricky spoke fastening his clip back into his rifle. "Our last hurdle."

"Thank God for that." Helene admitted fastening a filled clip into her rifle and pulling the bolt.

"Yea, I don't wanna see any zombie horror movies for a year now." Josh grumbled placing his now filled clip back into his 93R and pulled back the barrel to chamber the next round. "I've had all the horror I can stand in this city."

"I thought you'd only watch action movies." Ricky said with a heart chuckle. "Like Rambo and all that."

Josh couldn't help but scoff on that last remark. "Not on your life. Those big shot heroes are far from realistic." He chortled. "I for one find the use of guns like that pointless."

"Aw c'mon kid. People like you take all the fun out of movies." Ricky fake wined and chuckled again. "What is your favorite movie anyway?"

"Well, I do like westerns, but I'd say my favorite is Predator." Josh replied, thinking back to last week when he watched the successful sequel Predator 2.

"Isn't that a horror movie?" Ricky asked.

"Sci-fi action." Josh corrected. "Besides, I said I don't wanna see any zombie related movie now."

"Oh, right." Ricky looked up with a small smile on his face. "I'm a more comedy kind of guy."

"I'm not surprised." Josh chuckled.

"What? Did my sunny personality give me away?" Ricky sarcastically asked, eliciting a snicker from Josh.

"I think so Ricky." Helene spoke up with a small smile on her face, something the two male survivors were not used to, but it was a very welcome sight to see their timid friend show optimism once in a while.

Josh then stopped snickering, but retained a determined expression. "I don't wanna be a part pooper, but let's say we start snooping around for that cure."

"You took the words right outta my mouth kid." Ricky nodded. "Okay, let's find that cure and that evidence so we can bust Umbrella's un-forgiven ass!" He finished with a smirk.

"So how should we go with it?" Josh asked looking down the dimmed corridor.

The corridor was dimmed because of the tubular lights on the sides of the roof were not functioning. The place had plain white metal floors and walls, like some sort of laboratories from sci-fi movies. Beside the wall to the left were two small benches and a metallic trashcan which doubled as an ash tray. There were two doors in the room, one in the end of the corridor and the other was on the right side wall close to the end of the corridor.

"Well, as much as I'm not the best guesser in the world." Ricky spoke darting gazes between the two doors. "I say we take the door to the right first." He suggested.

Josh, being closer to the door walked up and took hold of the metallic handle. He pushed it down and the door was opened. It much relieved him of the possibility of it being locked. With a relieved sigh, he walked in, followed closely by Helene and last by Ricky. The room was dim just like the corridor, so Josh had to squint his eyes in order to get a better view. The room didn't seem to contain any zombie since there was no sound of a moan or the noise of shuffling feet.

"Ya could have turned the lights on first kid." Ricky said reaching for the light switch next to the door. He flicked the switch with the tip of his index finger and the room was illuminated by bright tubular lamps bolted to the roof. Something however made Helene gasp out of surprise as she took a step backwards.

Josh looked down where Helene's gaze was trained at, but he could only raise his eyebrows before calming down. Slumped down onto the floor besides a wall opposite the door was a dead body. But unlike most bodies the survivors had seen, it wasn't rotting. It was a middle-aged man wearing a black security officer's outfit, with a Beretta 93R handgun in hand and an entry wound in his right temple. There was also a bloody bandage on his right leg. Without a doubt, this poor man had shot himself.

"At least you died a human." Josh thought kneeling down and taking the clip from the man's Beretta to use himself.

Ricky took a look around his surroundings. They had entered an office of some sort. To the left sat a drawer combined desk with a computer module placed onto it. Next to the screen was a diary with a purple cover with the name Alfred Rodman written on it. It must have belonged to the deceased security guard. Opposite from the desk was a shelve filled with folders and documents, hopefully something not useful since having to look through them all didn't sound too inviting. Out of curiosity, Ricky took the guard's diary and flipped through the pages, surprised the last entry was made on the twenty-ninth of September.

_September 29th 1998_

_It's all over for me. They're everywhere. Worse thing yet one of those undead ass holes bit me. I just don't want to believe this is happening to me! What is up with this place? No, what's up with the entire city? Just yesterday all the others were slaughtered by strange insect-like creatures that seemed to devour their brains right out of my fellow guardsmen's skull. _

_I can't take this anymore! I know what happens once you've been bit. There's no turning back for me. Those idiots working here have finally doomed us all. With my last hope, I wish to end it all here and I pray to God my dead body stays dead for good._

_If by any chance someone's reading this, take my keycard and get the hell outta here! The exit door is opened with it. I wish you luck in your escape. _

"Keycard?" Ricky wondered looking down onto the desk, finding nothing on the spotless wooden surface. "Unless…" He then went over to the guard formerly known as Alfred Rodman and searched the man's pockets. He pulled out a small red and black keycard with the Umbrella logo on the side. "Bingo." He said aloud. "C'mon kids, let's get outta here and leave Alfred in peace." He spoke more remorsefully.

The survivors left the room, Josh taking one look back at Alfred.

"Don't worry man. They'll pay for all of this. I promise." He vowed and shut the door behind him.

Ricky walked up to the door at the end of the corridor, discovering a card reader besides it. He swiped the cardkey through the slot, a resounding 'beep' following afterwards and a green light shone from the lock. It was unlocked. The door then opened by itself by rising up. The three survivors walked through, the familiar stench of blood and rot lingered in the atmosphere of the place, making the bile rise up to the survivors' throats. There had to be zombies or plain corpses nearby. What's more to corridor was dim, so it would make it harder to spot enemies. What the y could tell was that the hall looked much like the entrance corridor. Differences were the numerous pipes lining the walls and ceiling. They had two choices of direction, left of right.

"Hmm, I don't like the idea of splitting up here…" Ricky though aloud, looking in both directions of the hall. "Maybe we should just go one way and search one side first, then come back and check the other side." He concluded.

"It's fine with me." Josh assured with a nod.

"Same here." Helene replied.

"Alright, let's go left first." Ricky decided and began to walk with the two teenagers in tow, weapons at the ready in case of any monsters that might had been in there.

In just a few steps the hallway began to bend right, the smell of death still lingering in the air. The survivors thanked their luck of not having run into any monsters. The zombies were the least of their worries. What worried them more were the Lickers, Hunters and those insect creatures mentioned in Rodman's diary. The zombie dogs did present some threat, but compared to those non-undead creatures they were nothing.

They then came to the end of the hall, two doors being present, one at the end of the hall and one to the right. Both doors were metallic, but the one to the right was a normal one that had to be pulled open while the other one was a sliding door. Ricky stepped up in front of the electronic door, but nothing happened. Also there was no sign of a card reader anywhere.

"Hmm, power must be out…" Ricky though aloud.

Josh heard Ricky's words and went to try the door to the right. He pushed down the handle and he pushed the door open. The horrible smell of rot became stronger than it was before, making Josh cover his nose and mouth and let out a groan of disgust.

"Jesus… That's fucking sick." He grumbled.

"Um, I-I don't think I want to go in there…" Helene spoke uneasily seeing how badly the stench affected Josh.

"Alright, it'll just take a minute." Josh said and with that stepped inside the room. "What the hell!" He suddenly yelled and rushed out the room. His eyes had widened from shock and he was breathing uncontrollably.

"Kid! What's the matter!" He asked worriedly taking a firm hold on Josh's shoulder.

"That has go to be the sickest thing I've ever seen!" Josh shouted and continued breathing uncontrollably.

Ricky cautiously looked towards the room, not spotting anything special, except a spot of blood that was coming from beyond the door… Ricky took a firm hold of his assault rifle and quietly crept inside. Upon reaching the door, he quickly with a large step got inside the room and trained his assault rifle in the blood's direction… his eyes instantly began to widen and he began stepping backwards cautiously.

"Oh my god…" He whispered horrified.

Slumped and castrated on the floor were two bodies, both wearing the same kind of uniform Rodman had on. The one slumped down had vicious looking slash marks all over his torso and his face had been destroyed, a single ruined eyeball gazing at him. The castrated body on the other hand had its skull opened and from what Ricky could tell, the 'contents' were missing. Something strong and vicious had attacked these poor men, even going as far as killing someone in the most unorthodox way there was. Ricky didn't want to look through the room any longer and just wanted to dart out of there in that instant.

"Wait, what's that?" He wondered looking down near his feet. In front of his left foot, almost under his boot was a rectangular, flat object, like a card of some sort. "Could that be a keycard?" He wondered kneeling down. He noticed the card looked far different from the one he had found on Rodman. It has two black code lines running down it with a silvery circle between them. He picked it up and examined it, turning it over. "What the heck?" He wondered out loud. On the other side of the card was an elaborate picture of a person who looked like a king from the middle ages, surrounded by food with a gluttonous smile plastered on the fat man's face and he was holding a golden grail. Written on top of the picture was the word "Gluttony".

"Better take it anyway, might need it and all…" Ricky thought and placed the card into one of his utility vest's pouches.

Having seen enough of this one room, Ricky walked out, pulling the door shut behind him. Little had he known that there was something spying on him from the opened vent.

"How're you feeling kid?" Ricky asked, noticing Helene having placed her hand on Josh's shoulder.

"Fine…" Josh replied. "It's just that I…"

"Kid, I know." Ricky nodded. "You didn't need to experience anything with this." Ricky remarked. "I just hope this won't affect your everyday life."

"Don't worry about it." Josh assured straightening himself. "I'm a tough guy and I have a father who experienced something almost as bad during Desert Storm."

"Well, that's great kid." Ricky nodded, not assured, but he didn't want to worry himself too much about Josh's mental state at the moment. "Anyway, I found this card on the floor." He presented the strange card he had found near the two corpses.

"Gluttony?" Josh wondered looking at the card. "What's this mean?"

"I dunno about that, but I think we should keep it just in case." Ricky said and slipped the plastic card back into the pocket on his utility vest. "And I didn't feel like checking the place out too much…" He said, wincing his face from the putrid smell in the room that was twice as worse than the one in the corridor. He swore he wasn't going to forget it anytime soon. "But anyway, we better go back since there's no going through that door." Ricky spoke with a nod towards the electrical sliding door.

The survivors cautiously proceeded back to where they had come. Once there, they proceeded into the opposite direction of the corridor, hoping they'd find something more interesting and important. Though Ricky couldn't quite put his finger on it, he sensed the strange card he had found in that room had a meaning. It might have been a special keycard, judging from the two code lines on the other side, or was it something else?

"Well, the farther we go, the more I'll find out…" He thought keeping his assault rifle aimed forward at all costs.

Not long after going past the door they had entered the corridor, it began to turn left, not in a ninety degree turn, but somewhere around forty-five or so. Then the corridor stretched straight left. However, after the turn, the survivors found out where the foul stench of death had come from. Three zombies were standing mindlessly in the middle of the corridor with two bloodied and eviscerated corpses lying by their feet, their chests torn open completely and their insides severely ruptured.

"These mother fuckers make me feel even more grossed out the more I see them!" Josh's mind screamed while he trained his Beretta towards the closer zombie, which was wearing blue overalls, so he must have been a mechanic before he had transformed. He aimed with precise accuracy so he'd take the disgusting, rotting bag of meat out of its misery and send the poor soul into a better place. With one pull of the trigger, in a split second after the roar of muzzle fire, the zombie was put down.

In response to the 'bang' the second zombie outstretched it flimsy arms and began slowly shuffling towards the source of living flesh. But before it could even get close to them, Josh unloaded two separate shots into the creature's head, both in the forehead. The zombie collapsed onto its knees and fell prostrated onto the floor. Josh comically blew the smoke rising from the muzzle of his gun and set the safety back on with a flip of his thumb.

Ricky couldn't help but snicker at that last move. "Those westerns rubbin' off on ya?" He asked with a smirk.

"You never know." Josh chuckled.

The current threat being taken care of, the survivors could now safely look around the corridor. Unlike the left side one, it continued on farther and there were already three doors around them, two on the right wall and one on the right, all of them being manual.

"So, how'll we do this?" Josh asked darting glances between the doors.

"Hmm…" Ricky began to ponder. "I don't like the idea of sending you alone in to each room…" He said glancing at Helene's feared expression towards the dead bodies. "Definitely not Helene. So, how about Josh checks out that room," He said jerking a thumb at the closer left side door. "Me and Helene will search that one." He pointed at the farther door on the left wall. "That okay?"

"Works for me." Josh shrugged. He walked over to the designated door, pulled it open while training his gun inside and walking in.

"C'mon, let's do our side." Ricky told Helene, getting a responding nod from the Japanese teenager.

Inside the room, which thankfully had functioning lights, Josh began his 'investigation'. He kept his sidearm held up with two hands, a tactic his father had taught him from his first day of learning gun-handling. This room looked like some sort of pharmacy room to him, reminding him of the one he had seen in the facility his father worked at. To the left from the door was a cart with various empty bottles, probably never even used, accompanied by test tubes, petri dishes and even syringes. Stuff you'd expect to find from a pharmaceutical enterprise, but why from a storage facility?

"Something tells me those Umbrella dickheads are hiding something from us…" He whispered.

He looked around the room more. Farther from the cart was a sink with shelves placed above and below it. To the left from the door besides the wall stood a cabinet, probably filled with useless reports on different chemicals. And at the far corner of the room sat a stretcher… with a white cloth covering something human sized…

Josh's spine began to feel frozen and his stomach felt queasy. What if there was a disgusting mutilated corpse covered under there? Even worse, what if there was something important on the corpse? Josh's teeth gritted together tightly, trying his best to keep them from clattering. He slowly began to approach the stretcher, his fingers shaking uncontrollably and his knees shook while he treaded.

"C'mon Josh, you damn wuss! It's a corpse, something you've gotten used to!" His mind shouted, but that only made him shiver even more. "It's not going to rise up and eat you!"

He finally got close enough to reach out and take a firm hold of the white sheet. His eyes widened from disgust and terror and his muscles felt like they were stunned. He tried and tried, ushering the least strength to pull on the sheet. With a silent growl of frustration, Josh yanked the covers off! Upon seeing what the covers were hiding, Josh's eyes widened to their widest and his mouth hung agape.

"Dear God!" He thought looking down onto the corpse.

This particular corpse was not a zombie, nor had it been devoured at all or showed any sign of rot. This was the corpse of a human. A woman, possibly in her late twenties or early thirties laid there. She had very dark brown hair that reached down to her shoulders; her complexion was slightly darker than a Caucasian's and her eyes seemed curved up. She was dressed in a yellow jacket with the Umbrella logo on the chest pocket, a black skirt reaching almost over her knees and wore almost transparent stockings and black shoes. She showed no possible signs of the cause of death, and Josh didn't feel like touching someone's corpse.

"I'm so sorry…" Josh groaned from remorse. "I'm sorry this had to happen." He spoke quietly. "But I hope it was quick and painless to…" His eyes suddenly looked down onto the name tag the woman was wearing round her neck. Josh ushered the courage to grab hold of the tag, similar to the one he had seen on that monster back at the police station. There was a facial picture of the woman, showing her with an emotionless stare. On the top of the card in black letters read: Misao Nayami. "…Nayami?" Josh gasped.

That was Helene's last name. And se mentioned earlier that her mother was called Misao…

"Christ…" Josh took a step back from the deceased Misao Nayami. "She's Helene's mother…" Josh shakily clenched his free hand into a fist. His teeth gritted together tightly looking down on his friend's mother. With a roar of rage, Josh punched the wall besides him, his hand first feeling pain, but it all went numb from the impact. "Fucking bastards!" He hollered.

Josh pulled his numbed fist from the wall and didn't even cradle it. The fury coursing through his whole body had taken his mind off the pain for good.

"God dammit! Those bastards from this got her mother killed!" He shouted in his mind. "I can't show her what's become of her mother now!"

Josh then noticed something in Misao's chest pocket, something that took a lot of room from it. He slipped his hand in and pulled the object out, discovering a small black booklet. Josh couldn't help but let curiosity get the better of him. He opened the booklet and scanned through the pages. A date had been written in each entry, guessing this was a diary. He first read from the entry dated back to June 16th of 1998.

_Jonouchi and I were first promoted from medical researchers to this scum T-virus project and now this comes up. We are now being assigned to a following project run by Igor Stepanovitch and from what I heard from Elisa, that man is as crazy as they get. He's the head researcher of the facility me and Jonouchi work at. I am aware there are two other head researchers or directors as we also refer, but I've never gotten much about them. I just have a bad feeling, just like Jonouchi about this new experiment we're forced to help with. Just like with the T-virus, we cannot back out. The lives of our dear Osamo and Hikaru depend on our obedience to the company. Please Lord, can't we escape this nightmare we foolishly got ourselves into?_

"Hikaru?" Josh wondered. "Is that… Helene's real name?" Now that he thought of it, Japanese people always had names that sounded strange to him. "Maybe Helene's her nickname…" He looked back down on the diary and got into the next entry.

_July 8th 1998_

_It's been made official; we're now both fulltime assistants for the new bioweapons project. Stepanovich seems so thrilled that I think he's out of his mind. The project has been informed by the second director to possess two stages, the first he titled "the birth" and the other: "the sow". The underground facility's main research room is currently being cleared of the last T experimentation and is being prepared for the newest experimentation program. The given name of this program is "Genome"._

"Genome?" Josh wondered, getting more confused every second. He decided skipping the next two entries and read on from the third.

_July 24th 1998_

_The Genome project's "birth" stage is going underway in a rapid pace. It took a while, but they were able to get their hold on the N-parasite used for the early Nemesis program we were told of four weeks ago. I just feel like puking my guts out seeing that thing in its container. It's so chaotic of hearing the third director's fascination towards it. The modification to the parasite will be underway first thing in the morning. I just don't understand what the directors find so fascinating in this work! _

_July 26th 1998_

_The parasite modification has been going on for two straight days. All personnel were forced to stay in for the project. I swear that bitch director's not human the way she treats Jonouchi and I. I wish I could go up and slap her asshole face in, but if I were to, I'd be as good as dead. I wish that whore would have gone up and died back in the Spencer estate…_

_August 5th 1998_

_Now it's all gone to hell. They remake of the N-parasite was deemed a success by Stepanovitch. Not only is the thing more grotesque than ever before, but it's a living thing! A larva! Now in a few days would be that start of "the sow". But for that, they need a human test subject. Anything at all will do. I just can't believe we can't do anything about it. Of all the foolish things we humans have done as a species, Stepanovitch is doing this out of jealousy. First was when researcher William Birkin's breakthrough with his G-virus. I've seen the man before in the facility with his wife Annette. In my opinion he's on the same level of the craziness scale as that bastard Stepanovitch._

_August 13th 1998_

_I knew Friday the thirteenth was going to be the worst day of our lives. They have selected the subject for the experimentation. A sixteen-year-old school girl! I just can't believe this! How can these fools do such things? The higher-ups of the company just don't care about other lives except maybe their own. These dirty pigs! They should all die and rot in the confines of Hell itself! That's the last straw! I'll see to it that they'll be too busy with something dire to even mind what I'm going to do!_

_August 17th 1998_

_It's too late, that girl formerly known as Elsa Webber has been implanted by the Genome embryo. It will only be a matter of time before she'll begin to show signs of submission to the parasite. I fear just thinking about what she is going through. Her life didn't need to be ruined by those scumbags that run this company. _

_This takes me back to the time we left our old country to find work and a better life for our children, but I didn't expect we were to do something so inhumane. Me and my husband have been helping developing tools of mass destruction that wiped out an entire facility in just days. I read from the paper about the S.T.A.R.S pleas for their attention. If only we could have assisted them somehow…_

_September 1st 1998_

_It's just as I feared. Apparently the T-virus is making progress towards the city from the Arklay Mountains. I only hope we'll be able to get it contained before it causes any of its damage to the city. But then again, if this gets out to the public, maybe they'll finally have the courage they lack to question Umbrella on their sick ambitions. But I fear since Umbrella employs thousands in the city alone, they might do the opposite and not oppose them. If the virus were to infect just one civilian, it would spark a reaction that carries on until no soul is left safe…_

_September 8th 1998_

_Today I shall plan out my diversionary idea on exposing these sick pigs. I saw the poor girl in her suspension tube. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing that day. She had turned a sickly blue color and upon closer inspection, her skin had transformed into scales. Stepanoitch is thrilled on the progress of her 'evolution' as he calls it. Jonouchi has been under severe stress lately, but he's not even allowed to leave the complex yet. How dare they treat my husband like a machine!_

_September 16th 1998_

_Two days ago one of our researchers was found scratching himself absurdly. He was seized immediately and taken down to the infirmary. I'm beginning to guess that the T-virus is causing its destruction faster than we anticipated. We have to get out of the city if this continues on. In almost every paper there's an article on a cannibal murder happening at night, and sometimes in broad daylight. If something isn't done soon the city will be plummeting straight down into its impending doom. I must act soon or me and my whole family will fall victim to this disease from hell._

_September 18th 1998_

_Jonouchi's troubles just took a leap for the worst. His mother is now infected by the T-virus. We fortunately got her to the hospital near St. Michael's clock tower, which is run by the company itself. But we're all fully aware on what will happen. The cure for the T-virus hasn't yet been found, in which I'm afraid that she won't make it. Her itchiness, constant hunger and frequent memory loss can prove it. The virus is making its progress so rapidly, she might be gone in a day or two. Jonouchi must stay strong if he is to maintain himself._

_September 20th 1998_

_It's done. Jonouchi's mother is gone… My dear husband is now a complete wreck of his former self. I try doing everything I can for him, but it's proving futile. I only hope he can hold onto himself long enough for my plan to reveal these sick bastards to the public. That should save us. It's just got to. Perhaps supplying this information to the R.P.D or investigative reporter Ashcroft who was one of the few first to report on the cannibal murder articles. I'll begin my plan in two days, which should give us enough time to reveal these fools and give us time to escape._

_September 21st 1998_

_I took one of the keycards needed to access the underground research compound and hid it in the back cover of my diary. Hopefully no one suspects a thing. Stepanovitch is furious about it, not to mention the fact of the third director leaving four days ago and she took one of the Genome embryos along with her. What I've gathered from my co-workers, the Stepanovitch bastard had something for that treacherous witch. I'm amazed someone as arrogant as her was promoted as an official Umbrella researcher in the age of eighteen. She's considered one of Birkin's best disciples. I however wonder if she took the embryo as some sort of bargaining chip against the company. But knowing that she's greedy as hell, she possibly took it to the higher ups against Stepanovitch's wishes. Or could she be trying to sell that monstrosity off to someone else for the highest bidder? God only knows what that bitch is up to._

Josh turned to the next page, but nothing had been written afterwards. "I guess those sick assholes found out the truth…" Josh thought looking back down onto the deceased Misao Nayami. He then remembered her having written about a keycard she had hidden on the back cover of her diary. Josh flipped past the rest of the blank pages until he came to be back cover. Taped onto the cover was another card.

It was just like the one Ricky had found in the room back at the right wing of the facility. The picture emblazoned on this one was far different from the one Ricky had found. It had a picture of a nude woman who had a chain in her hand, which was linked to a collar around a man's neck. The woman in the picture bore a malevolent smirk on her face, something that made Josh feel like puking. Written above the picture was the word: Lust.

"Hmm, gluttony, lust?" Josh wondered. "Aren't these a part of the seven sins or something?" He wondered aloud this time. He looked back down onto the body of Misao Nayami. With his final respects, he took the sheet that covered her earlier and placed it neatly atop the woman. There wasn't going to be anyone to give her a proper burial, so it was the least he could do as thanks for enlightening him on Umbrella's activities. "Rest in peace Miss Nayami." He said and bowed his head down to show respect. "I promise I'll take good care of Hikaru." He swore with his hand to his heart that still clutched Misao's diary.

Just then he heard banging from the room he was inside. He looked around hastily, dropping Misao's diary to fold out his Beretta 93R's foregrip and he set the handgun to burst mode. He then noticed a vent right opposite from the door bending off its hinges. Josh hastily backed away from the wall, keeping his Beretta trained towards the vent. The vent was finally thrown off the wall with a resounding 'clank' when it made contact with the white tile floor. Afterwards a familiar looking monster crept out of the vent and landed on the floor, almost toppling the stretcher where Misao's body was lying on.

"Shit, not these guys again!" Josh's mind shouted.

Standing on six limbs on the floor was a one of the familiar insect monsters he had encountered in the alley with Cranky. However, he was able to spot some differences in this one. Unlike the ones back at the alley, these ones seemed smaller in size, thus possibly granting the possibility to travel through vents. Like the ones from the alley, it had six claw equipped legs, it back rising into a hump, and having a much skinnier abdomen. But the most distinguishing feature was is head, or more like _heads_. This insect monster possessed two heads, both with silvery lifeless eyes staring back at him and had vicious looking mandibles that could rip bones apart.

"Not on your life!" Josh yelled and began firing at the two-headed insect monster with three-shot bursts. The 9mm. bullets did seem to affect the creature to a certain degree, making it step backwards while letting out barely audible shrieks. With the monster distracted for the time being, Josh grabbed Misao's diary from the floor and made a run for it through the door, slamming it violently shut. "Sucker…" Josh snorted and turned away from the door triumphantly.

But then the heavy door was slammed off its hinges, the insect monster having leaped at it, pressing all its weight down onto the reinforced metal door. The monster shrieked similarly to the insects encountered in the alley and arose to its hind feet. The only reaction Josh could think of was turning and running, which he did. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, hearing the rapid footsteps of the insect creature. He wouldn't dare to turn around and open fire with a 9mm. handgun at something like that, especially since it was impossible to maintain aim if he were to fire with the three-shot burst mode with one hand. If the monster got any closer to him and started swinging those claws, he'd be torn to shreds in no time.

"For fucks sake!" He yelled hoping to get Ricky's attention, who was in the room he'd just run past.

Josh could already feel the creature getting closer no matter how quickly he moved his own feet. That insect must have had so much power in its frail body that it could have caught anything it wanted. Josh had no choice now; he had to return fire towards the monster. He gracefully turned around with his gun aimed up and fired a burst of 9mm. bullets. He was lucky to see they struck one of the two heads of the creature, but then again, the monster was so close that he could see every little detail of its face. The monster fell back onto its four limbs. Josh took the slim chance to run past the creature.

While he ran, the monster turned in Josh's direction and retracted its whole body back. It then flung its body forward and spat out a load of green slimy substance. The substance all made contact on Josh's left arm. He could hear a sizzling noise when he felt the stuff making contact with his leather jacket. He instantly got the idea that this substance was acid. With a yelp, he threw his handgun, Misao's diary, his backpack and shotgun on the floor and swung the fake leather jacket off him. He watched as the fluid burned right through the leather, emitting a sickening sizzle accompanied by fumes of burning leather. Josh looked back at the creature with a hateful gaze, quickly grabbing his shotgun from the floor.

"That was a good jacket you bitch!" He hollered and fired with the shotgun, making the monster step back. Before Josh even had time to chamber the next shell, the door besides him swung open and rapid-fire of an assault rifle emanated. The monster shook violently with every second until it collapsed from the injuries and let out a final pained screech.

"You alright kid?" Asked the very familiar voice of Ricky.

Josh panted heavily from the last ordeal, but shot a grin towards Ricky to tell he was alright. Josh bent down to pick up his backpack. After strapping it back on, he accompanied it with his shotgun, finally grabbing his sidearm and Misao's diary.

"So? Did you two find anything?" Josh asked.

"Yea. Two packages of 9mm. rounds and another funny card." Ricky replied, taking another card out of his utility vest. This one had a picture of a knight in black armor holding an axe in both hands. The knight's expression was pictured hateful or vengeful. Also body parts were drawn around the knight's feet and the axe's blade was smeared in blood. Above the picture read: "Wrath".

"Yea, I found one too from this diary." Josh mentioned showing Ricky the diary. "Its taped onto the back cover.

Ricky opened the diary from the back cover, finding the "Lust" card taped onto it. "Hey Helene, could you pry this off for me?" He asked.

Helene came from behind Ricky and tore the card off the back cover of the diary. Out of interest Ricky flipped back a few pages and began reading the entries in the diary, but then Helene accompanied him, Josh's face suddenly being drained of all color.

"Josh…" Helene spoke up raising her face to Josh's with a worried expression on her face. "W-where'd you find this?"

"Umm…"

-

A/N: Yes, yet again a cliffhanger ending. I hope I didn't reveal too much about this "Genome" project. I don't really have much to say for this chapter, except that I was having trouble due to writer's block, but I got over it luckily. I'll begin work on chapter twenty possibly the next day, since I'm really willing to finish this before 2007. Have fun trying to figure how Josh is now going to answer to Helene. Bye! The nightmare's far from over…


	20. Chapter 20: Seven Sins

Chapter 20: Seven sins

"Umm…"

That was all that the youth Josh Ellington could let out after Helene's question on where he had found the diary. If only he hadn't been so stupid to just hand over the booklet to Ricky who was sure to begin reading it due to his curious nature. Helene had seen the text written into it, retaining her trademark feared expression.

"Josh, where did you find this?" Helene asked again more firmly.

"What's…?" Ricky wondered looking back down into the diary. "Hikaru?" He wondered.

"That is my mother's handwriting…" Helene spoke weakly. "Where, did you find it?" She asked Josh the third time.

Josh didn't like his idea, but he was going to have to lie. If Helene were to find out of her mother's whereabouts, she would end up a crying wreck forever. He had the words at the tip of his tongue, but he was having difficulty letting them out.

"Josh, where did you find this?" Helene asked more sternly.

That was all that was needed to trigger those words out of Josh's mouth, "I found it on a drawer in that room back there." He said quickly.

Helene continued to look at Josh with here feared expression, not sure whether to believe it or not. She and her now deceased brother both had a strong feeling that their parents had left this world due to the outbreak. Though accepting their fates, she wasn't sure if she could stand seeing them dead before her. She had only her family to comfort her in tough times, being it school, stages of puberty or just a plain bad day. She had no knowledge of her relatives back in Japan, not knowing hardly anything about them since she hadn't been to Japan for thirteen years. She had forgotten all the words and letters of her ancestry, only things reminding of her nationality were her darker complexion, her curved eyes, her naturally long and black hair and some of the traditional furnishings in her home.

"A-alright…" She replied, not assured, but willing to accept what Josh spoke.

"Your real name's Hikaru?" Ricky asked surprised.

"Everyone at school and my brother referred to me as Helene and so it caught up as my American name." Helene explained. "Besides, it sounds weird when an American pronounces my real name."

"Well, Japan and the U.S are two different worlds." Ricky figured closing the diary. "We don't work twenty-four seven all the time, we have bigger apartments, we don't eat with chopsticks and men don't wear dresses here."

"They're called kimonos Ricky." Helene corrected.

"Kimono, dress, same thing." Ricky shrugged.

"As much as I don't want to spoil this fun time learning moment, I roughly suggest we continue on before we get out after loosing half an arm." Josh spoke up.

Unbeknownst to the survivors, they were secretly being monitored by a security cam on the corner of the roof. Somewhere within the facility inside the security office sat an mysterious figure eyeing at the three survivors, a malevolent grin appearing on his face.

"So, Private Wallace went and got himself a couple of more rats to trap…" The figure though looking at the screen picking up what the camera was seeing. "This should prove entertaining…"

The survivors now had one more door to check before moving on deeper into the Umbrella storage facility. The door was opposite from the wall where the two rooms that were just searched. Luckily the door was a plain hand opened door, so there was no danger of it not opening on them. Josh casually pushed the door open, the familiar stench of decay emanating from within.

"We got some more shit bags to deal with." He said training his Beretta inside.

He was more than right. Congregated in the room were four zombies clad in either yellow coats and black pants or ones with blue overalls, indicating they were possibly researchers and maintenance workers. Getting in the first shot, Josh took out one in blue overalls, firing two well aimed shots into the zombie's head. A scientist zombie standing close to the now toppled zombie was also dispatched shortly by an accurate single shot from Helene and then the two last ones fell from Josh and Ricky's sidearms. The room being cleansed of any possible threats for now, the survivors entered, finding the place a mess. The place seemed to have been a break room for the staff. There were six tables placed into the room with standup chairs joining them, many of them knocked over. Some of the tables had been pushed from their previous spots, indicating a struggle had taken place before the survivors arrived. Blood stained the floor, a small puddle formed right under a corpse that had its head missing, possibly the fault of those giant insects. Several other torn and eviscerated corpses littered the floors, some missing whole body parts, but most torn and eaten from the inside by the zombies.

"Aw man." Ricky groaned waving his hand in front of his face due to the horrid stench. "That stinks a million times worse than my uncle's lucky socks."

"Please don't joke around Ricky." Josh grumbled. "I may never stop carrying an air freshener when I get outta here." The stench of rot and decay had become so attached to his sense of smell that he was sure to remember it for years.

"Yea, whatever, ya think we should search the bodies?" Ricky asked.

After contemplating a few seconds, all three survivors replied almost simultaneously:

"Pass…"

"Yea, I thought so." Ricky said. "Let's move on."

The survivors left the break room and continued down the hall, which quickly lead to a dead end, except for a door placed to the right, also being manual and not electrical. That was their only option on moving on. Ricky pushed down onto the metallic handle and let the teenagers through first, following them and closing the door behind him.

They entered another corridor very similar to the one they came from. Only difference was the walls taking a more grayish coloration than before. The corridor led right from the door, stretching far down until coming to a stop at least forty meters away. On each side wall were three doors, so the first floor was far from thoroughly investigated, remembering the electrical locked door at the end of the left side of the facility.

"Okay, I suppose we're in for another joyride." Ricky spoke with a large hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"So, what's the idea on this Ricky?" Josh asked darting gazes between all six doors.

Ricky thought about the predicament at hand. Six rooms were present, and the facility itself surely had to be more then meets the eye. Also, the strange cards they had found around the facility. Gluttony, Greed and Lust. Whatever those were, they had to have a connection. They might have been some sort of special keycards, judging by the black code lines on their backsides. Perhaps if they were to get the rest of these keys, if there even were any more of them, they might uncover something big. But now they had to focus on what's at hand. Even if they'd cover more ground by going individually, the thought of sending the emotionally distressed Helene alone was not something he was ready to do.

"You and Helene take the left while I'll take the right." He plainly explained.

"Alright, works for me." Josh agreed.

"…Me too." Helene spoke up, still feeling uneasy.

"Okay. But this time, search any corner," Ricky emphasized. "Any crack, a hole, anything that might seem suspicious or sure to hide something of use to us. You got that?" Ricky asked with an intensified tone.

"Yes sir." Josh nodded.

"Glad to hear that. Good luck kids." Ricky concluded before walking towards the first door on the right.

"You heard him, let's get going Helene." Josh spoke turning to Helene. "… Helene?"

Helene was looking down on the floor, her black hair shadowing her facial features almost completely. Josh concernedly moved closer to her and tried to look at her in face.

"You alright?" He asked with genuine concern for the Japanese girl.

"Josh, were you honest on where you found my mother's diary?" Helene asked, startling Josh enough to almost make him step back.

"Uh, y-yea, of course." Josh stuttered, but mentally kicked himself. That last reaction of his was a dead give away.

"You lied, didn't you?" Helene asked, raising her head so that she could see up into Josh's eyes. "You found my mother right?"

"H-Helene, I… I didn't want to make it any harder on you." Josh explained.

"Lying about my mother's whereabouts isn't going to solve that Josh!" Helene snapped.

Josh's eyes widened from surprise for that split second. Never before had he heard Helene yelling like that. Now he really had done it since he made a girl like Helene yell at him. Every time he had done something terribly wrong people often did go snapping at him like that, following the horrible feeling of remorse that always made him feel uneasy.

"Helene, I know I messed up like hell." Josh replied remorsefully. "But, if you were to see her and turn into a forever crying wreck, it was going to make it only harder for you to survive."

"How can you be so cold?" Helene asked with disgust and sadness present in her voice.

"I'm not being cold!" Josh retorted. "I'm sorry, but the more you mourn your family's death at this moment, you'll only go get yourself killed and then you won't be able to avenge your loved ones."

Helene continued to stare at Josh with an unbelieving look. Josh was usually a kind, caring person, but now Josh sounded very cruel in her ears. He spoke to her like that about the death of her whole family, the four most important people in her life.

"I can understand that you know how to be tough and mean on the outside, but doing that towards me like that now of all times…" Helene whispered loudly.

"Helene, I want to keep you alive that…" Josh tried to interject, but was cut off by Helene.

"Shut up. Just leave me alone…" Helene said rudely and stared down at the metal floor beneath her feet, purposely breaking eye contact with Josh.

"But…" Josh attempted to reply, but gave up instantly, knowing Helene was now going through the worst time of her life. He guessed he should leave her alone now. "Alright, just wait here while I go check through the rooms."

Helene didn't do anything to reply, she just continued looking down at the floor. Josh felt worried, but didn't let the befallen silence get to him.

"If anything happens, yell and I'll come running." Josh assured. "Don't you worry, we'll get out of this city and I'll do all I can to help you." Josh said with reassurance and turned to walk towards the first door to the left. Unlike the doors in the earlier corridor, these were black and seemed air tight. The rooms were possibly used as storages for chemicals. "I'll be back soon." Josh said before forcefully pulling the tight door open and stepping through.

Helene looked up as Josh's form disappeared through the door.

"…To help me?" She wondered still looking at the door Josh went through.

-

Ricky pulled open yet another cabinet on the wall, more lined up bottles of unknown chemicals coming to view on the metallic shelve. The room he had entered was a capacious storage quarters with the walls fitted with special cabinets used for housing chemicals. He had already checked through at least eight, finding several rows upon rows of different chemical containing bottles, all of different size and color. Only eight more and he'd have the entire storage checked.

"Oh, what's the point?" He asked himself pushing the cabinet shut. "I'm not gonna find anything of use in this dump." He grumbled.

Then he caught something in the right corner of his eyes that wasn't a cabinet built inside the wall. Placed right next to the final cabinet sat a lone computer with its screen still shining bright. All that stood visible was the screen and keyboard placed right below it, which meant the unit itself must had been hidden inside the wall and the screen was possibly one of those new touch-screens Ricky had heard so much about.

"Hello, what've we here?" Ricky wondered stepping closer to the PC and leaning in towards it.

The computer desktop was a picture of some greenish stone wall with the Umbrella Inc. logo placed on the upper right corner. On the left side of the screen were several programs lined up in orderly fashion. The different programs had many fitting names given to them such as: Security, ST01, ST02, ST03 and ST04. Out of plain curiosity, Ricky touched the program titled ST02, a new window popping up out of nowhere. This screen showed many new commands, a few first of them titled Cam, Tutorial, Archives and so on. Ricky then touched the Cam command, the window widening and an image appeared. The image seemed to be of a room just like this one, plain metallic walls lined with storage cabinets and a familiar computer terminal in the corner and to add it with a dead body slumped in the top right corner and a moving figure… A figure in a green t-shirt, blue jeans and had dark brown hair that covered almost the whole neck.

"Josh?" Ricky wondered looking at the image of the teenager in the window. "This must be from a security camera in that room." He figured. He took a look behind him, noticing a camera in the corner of the roof. "Thought so…" With that, he got back up back straight and headed out of the storage room. Outside, Ricky saw Helene, sitting next to the wall opposite from where he came. She had her head ducked down and was hugging onto her knees.

"Hey." Ricky walked closer and kneeled in front of Helene. "You okay there?" He asked.

Helene looked up at the young mercenary with a sad, yet puzzled expression on her delicate features.

"…Ricky." She finally let out quietly.

"Yea, what's up?" Ricky asked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"If someone is purposely trying to keep something hidden from you, something of great importance, even if it could break you down just from knowing about it, to protect you? Is that right?" Helene asked.

Ricky's eyebrows rose up from sudden confusion due to Helene's strange question. "What're ya getting at?" He asked.

"You know that diary Josh found which belonged to my mother?" Helene asked, getting an approving nod from Ricky. "It appears he lied to me on where he found it."

Ricky still didn't feel as if he had understood what the Japanese girl was getting at. "Well, where'd he find it then?" He asked, hoping to get a clue on what went between the two teenagers.

"He found it…" Helene's shoulder's tensed up just as the word came to the tip of her tongue. "…He found it on my mother…" She said, he arms shivering at the plain mention of her mother.

Ricky's eyes then widened from sudden shock. "Dear God…" He thought. This was like a more horrific flashback back to the time his mother was murdered by his good for nothing drunkard father. It was the most horrible night in his life, being only seventeen that time. Now a friend who was nine years younger than him had gone through the same and her mother's corpse was somewhere within the facility for anyone who walked by there to see.

"Helene I'm so sorry for…" Ricky spoke out of remorse.

"No." Helene stopped Ricky's sentence at. "It wasn't your fault. But the thought of Josh keeping this a secret from me, how could he?"

"He was doing it to protect ya." Ricky responded.

Helene looked back up at Ricky. "That's the same thing he told me…"

"You see Helene," Ricky sighed out. "I know how it's like to loose a parent. You see I lost my mother seven years ago and I didn't handle it too well. Only condolences I got were comforting words from my uncle and my son of a bitch father getting arrested for life." Ricky explained. "Josh is sorta aware of those horrible feelings people have when they witness the demise of someone they care for, so he wanted to keep your mother's whereabouts secret, 'cause he doesn't want you to end up like I almost did. If you loose your nerves here, you'll end up dead."

Helene continued staring at Ricky, letting his words slowly sink into her mind.

"Ya see, though he may not admit it to me at least," Ricky carried on. "Josh cares about you and he wants to do everything he can to get ya outta this godforsaken dump so you could live on." Ricky closed his eyes in thought for a while and looked back down at the sitting Helene. "Anyone still alive in this city must live on, 'cause we all deserve it. Umbrella just took all that away from all of those who are now just zombies or already gone. So Helene, keep that chin up and don't mourn forever. We're all escaping together and I'm gonna do everything I can to avenge all those lives Umbrella's ended." Ricky finished with an assuring smile and a thumbs-up.

Helene merely continued staring at Ricky, thinking about all those words he told her. Ricky got back up on his feet and turned towards the next door he was supposed to investigate.

"Take your time there Helene." Ricky spoke. "Let us men do the dirty work here while you rest up." He concluded and walked towards the farther door on the right-side wall.

Helene watched as Ricky Wallace opened the next door open, entered the room and pulled the door shut behind him. Helene looked back at the wall opposite of her, the kind words Ricky said earlier still fresh in her mind. Was it true? Was it righteous for Josh to hide something from her, even if it was for a right cause?

-

Josh with sluggish momentum pulled open the next cabinet, exposing more bottles of seemingly hazardous chemicals. Though he wasn't the brightest when it came to chemistry, he figured that the more colorful the fluids looked, the more dangerous they were no doubt about it. Adding to that this was an Umbrella facility. Who knew what sort of diseases they must had been housing in those air tight containers stacked tidily on the hard steel shelves placed into cabinets built securely into the walls to avoid any possible leaks.

"You make such good medicines, yet you fucked us all up." He thought pushing the cabinet closed.

So far the only items he had come in contact were chemical bottles, but he surely had no use for them, let alone carrying them felt almost suicidal. The only thing inside the room he didn't feel too 'thrilled' on checking was the slumped down corpse of an Umbrella researcher wearing the familiar yellow sweater and black pants. Though he seemed pretty dead at the moment, who knew if this person was on the brink of becoming another zombie? Sure, zombies weren't all that dangerous, from a distance at least. Getting close to even a lone zombie had catastrophic consequences. Not only was it hazardous for mental health, getting bitten or scratched meant sure doom. Of course Josh knew that the T-virus vaccine must had been in their reach to a certain degree, not sure knowing of how long it was going to take before they found the vaccine. Helene had all the time she needed, but if he or Ricky were to be bitten their fates might had been sealed.

That's when Josh got an idea on how to investigate more safely and less hazardously. He drew his blood tattered crowbar from his belt and kept his new Beretta trained at the corpse. He reached down with the crowbar and poked the forehead of the slumped down figure. The head bobbed backwards a bit, but nothing else happened.

"I'm not convinced just yet." Josh thought and probed the body more roughly. After poking it roughly on the shoulder, the corpse fell prostrated onto the floor, exposing three large cuts on the man's back. Seeing them made, Josh's eyes widen from dread. "Good God, what the hell did this?" He knelt down observing the cuts closer.

There were four diagonal cuts on the researcher's back, all in the same position and they were dangerously close to each other. It must have been the work of one of the Umbrella creations he had seen prowling around the city, surely by the ones possessing large claws. The two longest cuts were about eighteen inches long and almost an inch wide. That gave Josh two possible culprits. The first would have been the skinless humanoids called Lickers, the same ones that almost got him killed a few times out in the streets. Just the thought of those grotesque monsters made Josh shiver with fear due to their hideous appearance. The second would have been the reptilian monstrosities dubbed by Umbrella as Hunters. The Hunters, without a doubt, were some of the deadliest creatures he had seen inside the city. They were ferocious, agile, very relentless and seemingly intelligent to a certain degree, having witnessed them evade small amounts of gunfire. But the cuts weren't the only things he'd need in solving the mystery of the culprit. Taking a look at the roof, Josh spotted no ventilation shafts. Lickers were the frailer of the two possible culprits that could barge in through a vent.

"Figures, if there were the whole staff would've been in danger." Josh though, remembering he was in a storage room for hazardous chemicals. The room had been made air tight and there were no vents so that any accidental fumes would get into the ventilation system and spread around the entire complex.

The final conclusion was that this researcher must have been running away from something possessing the large claws, only to get slashed in the back before he escaped and hid into the storage room and bled to death. Letting the thought of encountering either of the creatures subsided as Josh searched the researcher's pockets.

"C'mon, at least single bullet is fine with me." Josh whispered putting his hand down one of the man's pant pockets. "Huh?" He felt something thin, yet hard inside the pocket. He pulled out the item, it being yet another strange keycard.

This keycard was just like three earlier ones. It had the two code lines and the silver circle on one side and the other had an elaborately drawn picture on it. This was a picture of a man lying lazily on the railing of a balcony, a relaxed, careless smile plastered on his face. Below him a duo of people were carrying barrels on their backs, looking exhausted and ready to give in to the pain. Written on the top side of the card was: Sloth.

"What the heck is it with these cards?" Josh wondered still looking at the elaborately drawn picture. "I'm sure they didn't make these as works of art, that's for sure." He stood up pocketing the strange card.

Josh was suddenly startled by a scream from beyond the door to the storage room. He reacted by rushing through the door into darkness.

"Who turned out the lights?!" He shouted, his vision blinded by the blackness for a second. "Helene?!" He called out as he ran over to the end of the hall. "Are you alright?!"

"Josh!" Helene called out, her silhouette turning to Josh's direction. "I'm okay."

"What's goin' on out here?!" Ricky called out from farther away. Suddenly a bright magnesium flare became ignited in the darkness. "You two okay?" He asked, now holding a signal flare in his hand.

"Yea, we're okay." Josh assured. "But, Helene. What happened?"

"The lights just turned off instantly and then it sounded as if someone ran past me and out that door." Helene explained, nodding towards the door the three survivors had entered.

"Ran past you?" Josh wondered. "Could it mean there's another survivor here besides us?"

"I dunno about that kid, but whoever it was left in a hurry." Ricky replied. "Probably thought we were monsters."

"Well, there're more important things to worry about now." Josh spoke. "I found another one of those cards in that storage room. This only adds up to my suspicion that these cards are connected." He said presenting the Sloth card.

"I may have an idea on what these things are." Ricky said taking the card from Josh's hand and placing it in the pouch on his vest reserved for the cards. "You kids know of the seven deadly sins?"

"Yea, heard about them a couple of times." Josh nodded.

"Well, if I remember correctly, gluttony, lust, wrath and sloth are among those seven sins. When I was in confirmation I had learned that these were the worst traits a human could have." Ricky explained briefly. "I don't really remember it all, but that's about all I could think of."

"So you're saying that there are supposedly seven of these cards and they work together?" Helene asked.

"Could be." Ricky shrugged. "Knowing Umbrella's crazy and all, they must be keeping some valuable secrets in this dump."

"That reminds me…" Josh spoke. "Helene's mother said something about a project being conducted in this place. Also she implied about an underground facility."

Ricky looked at Josh raising a brow. "These guys got some 'secret' laboratory stashed away here?" Ricky asked, not truly believing what he had heard form the young military fanatic.

"Wait, Josh may have a point." Helene spoke up. "I remember reading about the S.T.A.R.S report on the mission last June in the paper. They said that they stumbled into a mansion hiding a top-secret research facility where the virus had emerged."

"So those clever Umbrella bastards are going underground with their experiments." Josh growled, remembering the details on the Genome project written in Misao's diary.

"That explains how they've been keeping the T-virus project under wraps. No one would suspect a simple pharmaceutical enterprise to hide secret labs underneath their facilities." Ricky said, the whole mystery becoming much clearer than it had ever been.

"So we have to find the last three cards." Josh said with a snap of his fingers in conclusion.

"Easier said than done kid. There's only three of us and only God knows what's prowling around this place." Ricky said.

"Unfortunately." Helene grumbled.

"Well, we can't just quit now. We've got to collect vital evidence on revealing these money hungry pigs and we've just gotta find the vaccine down there." Josh said with determination.

"And let's not forget getting the hell outta this city." Ricky reminded. "Even if we find the evidence and the cure that still leaves us to escape this hell hole."

"We'll worry about that later." Josh replied nonchalantly. "Now let's go find those last cards!"

"Alright. But now we're sticking together." Ricky replied. "We're not going ten feet away from each other unless we're certain we're out of hot water."

"Work's for me." Josh agreed. "C'mon, let's search those next rooms."

"Alright, but I sort of have this feeling it's merely another storage room." Ricky spoke.

"How could you know?" Josh asked with a raised brow.

"Well, since I looked it up from a computer module back there that said the four first rooms were used as storage rooms." Ricky explained. "Though I don't know anything about the last two doors…"

"I say we should check it out. There might be something of use to us in those." Josh replied.

"I agree with that kid. Plus, those rooms are almost completely airtight with no air conditioning, so no fear of Lickers coming out at us." Ricky said.

"I know. Though I'm certain there are Lickers or Hunters in here…" Josh ominously added.

This elicited a gasp from Helene and raised brows from Ricky.

"Say what?!" Ricky asked.

"Sadly, I found a dead man with long slash marks on his back…" Josh explained.

"But, it could have easily been one of those insects right?" Helene asked, hoping that her theory would be equally possible as Josh's, seeing as she was able to down one of them earlier without help from Ricky.

"No." Josh replied. "There were four claw marks, the two in the center being the longest. Also, seeing the width of those things, they just had to come from something like the Hunters or Lickers."

"Well that's just great." Ricky grumbled with his grip on his assault rifle tightening. "Looks like we'll be up against Umbrella's deadliest creations in this dump." He thought. "If we're going up against a lot of them, we'd be in serious need of more firepower."

"It's a little too late for that." Josh spoke up.

"I dunno." Ricky shot back. "Call me crazy, but you saw how that truck back there had weapons stored away because of the hazard those lizards could cause?"

"Yea," Josh nodded.

"Well, maybe they've got something fun hidden here, you know, in case of emergencies." Ricky said with confidence. "I'm sure those scumbags needed something to protect themselves, so maybe they've got an armory or something down here." He concluded with a grin.

"You know, that's possible." Josh replied.

"So we could get something stronger for you two to use?" Helene asked with new hope.

"Sure. In fact, we should arm you there too missy." Ricky said looking down at Helene.

"But I'm not good with weapons." Helene protested. "I'll just cause trouble for you both if I join in fighting."

"Helene," Josh placed his hand on Helene's shoulder. Strangely, whenever Helene felt Josh touching her like that, inexplicable warmth began to flow throughout her body. To her, no matter how strange the occurrence, it felt very comforting. "No matter how many times you doubt yourself, there's no way in hell you'd be some liability in a fight. You've done on heck of a good job with that rifle you've been holding to all this time, so I'm sure when you get the hang of something new, you'll be maybe as deadly as Ricky in battle." Josh smirked at his last comment.

"What was that?" Ricky asked suspiciously.

"Don't mind that now." Josh quickly elicited. "Let's just get this place 'cleaned up'."

With that Josh went ahead towards the fourth storage room, keeping his handgun trained forward at all times. Stepping in, he aimed in all directions just for a precaution due to the fact of him a corpse. What he had learned, any corpse within Raccoon City possessed the unwanted possibility to transform into a zombie and attack without even a second's hesitation. Luckily, there was not even the faintest speck of blood in sight.

"Just wait a sec." Josh said and took a look around the room, not bothering to open the cabinets since all he'd see are useless and extremely hazardous. After his thorough search of the room, having searched from every angle, every corner, nothing special came into view. "All clear." He called out and walked out of the storage room.

"So that just leaves two doors." Ricky said looking towards the farthest door to the right. "Okay, let's see what's behind door number one." He walked over to the door readying his SOCOM in the process. He took hold of the handle and pulled the door open, aiming the handgun into the room. "Well now, this looks interesting."

Josh and Helene followed Ricky to the door and looked inside. This room was not a storage room like Ricky had guessed. It had functioning tubular lights on the roof and at the end of the room opposite from the door stood a large terminal with many functioning screens flashing above it. Between the terminals and the door sat a small table with various papers scattered around it along with another Beretta 93R handgun. The survivors stepped inside the room, closing the door as a precaution should anything be capable to follow them inside.

"Looks like a security office." Ricky said walking towards the computer terminals with his eyes fixed on the screens.

"Bull's-eye, we might find something good here." Josh replied picking up the handgun on the table and ejected the clip, adding it to his own array. After that he began looking through the various papers littering the table.

Ricky studied the screens' images intently. The first seemed to be the lobby where they had entered the facility. The next two showed and image of the hallway they had been prowling around earlier, the corpses of their freshly killed zombie adversaries still lying there along with the strange two-headed insect creature. The fourth and last one showed an image of the corridor outside the security office.

"Okay, let's see what else there is…" Ricky thought studying the various buttons and switches on the terminal. The top buttons had especially caught his interest seeing that they had stickers placed above them which read "Cam1", "Cam2", "Cam3" and so on and so forth. Ricky pressed the one titled Cam5 and the second screen showed an image of the break room littered with corpses. The next button was Cam7, the third screen switching its image to pitch black. "Damn." Ricky whispered seeing as they'd have no idea what this room was.

"Found anything?" Helene asked Josh who was furiously looking through the reports.

"Not really." Josh replied quickly reading through another useless report. "How the hell are we gonna make any progress at this rate?" He asked himself tossing the report aside.

Helene sighed from stress and she rubbed her forehead. So far they had gotten to their destination, but now they had hit a dead end. There they were stuck in a security office with no way of knowing how to find the T-virus vaccine or any good evidence on exposing Umbrella's evil doings to the world. That's when she noticed a small computer terminal in the corner of the room. Seeing as she wasn't doing anything useful at the moment, she walked over to the terminal and sat on the rotating chair in front of it. She moved the mouse, disabling the screen saver and showing some sort of report that had been left on.

"What's this?" She wondered looking through the report.

_Electric Output_

_The top floor of the facility has all its power supplied from the power room situated in corridor2 opposite of security office2. In the occurrence of electrical failure in some areas, the worn out fuse of that sector must be replaced with a new one. Spare fuses are stored in storage room1 located in corridor1 opposite of the staff break room and next to the first-aid room._

_All functioning fuses are marked with a red light and the worn out fuses' lights are turned off. Locating the fuse is easy even if the lights of the power room are not functioning._

_Removal of worn out fuses are done by turning the fuse left and then it's simply pulled out. The new fuse is then inserted inside the plug and twisted right. Shouldn't the red light turn back on, the plug itself has been damaged, in which maintenance workers must handle repair before the plug is in working order._

_Extreme caution must be used while fuse switch. Electrical shocks are easy to occur even with the slightest mistake. Power room is situated opposite of the top floor main security office. _

That's all she needed to know. Helene stood up from the computer terminal with new hope for her and the others' survival.

"Guys! I found something useful!" She called out.

Josh and Ricky looked up from the current activities and turned their attention towards Helene.

"Okay, shoot." Josh said.

"You know that door from earlier that refused to open? Well, I just found out that we need to fix it by a simple change of fuses." Helene explained.

"Okay, so where are we gonna find these fuses and where is the power room?" Ricky asked walking up to Helene.

"The power room's just opposite of this one and the fuses are stored in that one room you and I were in earlier." Helene replied. "The one where we found the 'Wrath' card."

"Good work there Helene." Ricky grinned. "Let's say we go get that fuse and…"

"I'll go get it." Josh volunteered.

"Hey, kid." Ricky turned towards Josh with a disapproving look on his face. "I must have told you at least a hundred times by now. You..."

"Yea, yea, no going out where there's danger." Josh spoke, remembering all the occurrences when he and Ricky were in disapproval with each other. "But what the hell? I know the way and it's not even far. I'll just run, get the fuse, come back here and we go insert it right? So you two just continue checking out for anything useful." After finishing Josh rushed over to the door, opened it and left the security office.

Ricky let out a sigh of annoyance. "I'll never understand how I stand being around that kid." He said shaking his head slowly.

-

Outside the security office, Josh ran through the dark corridor and back into the earlier corridor where the first things he saw were the corpses of zombies and the two-headed insect monster that had destroyed his favorite jacket, which still had its few remains lying on the metal floor. With no time to waste, he ran to the room where Ricky and Helene had been earlier and threw the door open. Inside slumped in the back of the small room was yet another dead body of a security officer, but it was the least of Josh's worries at the moment. On both sides of the room sat two large metallic drawers with stickers stuck onto each shelve to indicate what was stored inside of them.

"Tch, good, make's my job a whole lot easier." Josh thought as he searched for the correct shelve. He had to admit, Umbrella had anything they needed to keep their facilities in tiptop shape. He had looked through many shelves, all of them containing something needed to keep the facility up and running. Tubular lights, different kinds of tools, parts, just about everything.

"C'mon, where are the god damn… bingo!" He said in triumph finding the shelve labeled 'fuses'. He pulled the shelve open, finding it to be heavier to pull than most shelves and found many fuses placed into holders that reminded Josh of the test tube holders back at Lush Acres' high school. He took one of the fuses, pocketed it and left the room. "Alright, got the little bastard and now…"

Just then a panel from the roof was violently slammed, making it fall right at Josh. With a yelp of surprise, Josh dove out of the way and quickly turned his body to face the fallen panel and the creature that had slammed it down. Standing on the broken roof panel was another two-headed insect creature. Not wanting to risk dying like the he almost did with the earlier one, Josh tossed his backpack on the floor and un-strapped his shotgun, keeping it pointed at the creature at waist level.

"Okay asshole, you wanna piece of me?" Josh asked the insect with a mocking tone, trying his best to hide his fear. "Bring it!" Josh hollered firing a buckshot at the monster.

Greenish yellow blood spurt out as the hot shots made contact with the monster's chitin and tore away at it. In retaliation, the insect rose on its hind legs and crazily began swinging its claw equipped limbs while rushing at Josh while screeching horridly. In response Josh leapt to the side to avoid the razor sharp claws that could make mincemeat out of him in seconds. While the creature rushed past him, Josh took the time to chamber the next shell into his shotgun. The insect them spun its body around while falling back on all six legs and began its own retaliation. It thrust its body forward and hurled a large dose of acid from its mouths. Not fully prepared for it, Josh leapt backwards but due to little control, he slipped and fell on his rear. The creature hurriedly ran towards the toppled teenager, only to get another blast of shots into one of its hideous faces. The recoil made Josh's body slide backwards, which gave him little distance from the insect, which he used to leapt back onto his feet.

"Now fucking die!" Josh hollered furiously chambering another shell and firing another blast, this one making the creature's left head fall limp.

The monster reacted by lashing out with its front limbs, not making contact with Josh, but it was close enough for Josh to feel the air current through his stained jeans. Now he knew that this monster had an advantage of having two heads. If merely one was disposed off, the other one could still control the body and continue attacking its prey. It was a miracle how Umbrella was able to create something like that, a being that could survive gunfire to that level of degree, but since these creations were used for slaughtering humans in the most inhumane of manners, it made Josh feel sickened and disgusted.

Chambering another shell, Josh was now ready to dispose of the horrid monster so that it could never do harm to anyone ever again. Of course there had to be more of these things in the facility, but knowing there was one less to deal with made it feel a great cause.

"Hungry scumbag?" Josh mockingly asked the creature, his anger keeping his fear in check so that he'd not make any wrong moves, especially since he was now so close to bringing the insect down without help from anyone. "Well come and get it!" Josh shouted keeping his shotgun pointed towards the creature.

As if in response to Josh's mockery, the creature lashed out with one of its front limbs, not clawing through Josh's leg thankfully, but its intention was to knock the teenager off his feet. Though in pain, Josh was not willing to give up and get killed by a monster that shouldn't even exist and at the age of fifteen. The monster began to crawl onto Josh, but with quick reflexes, Josh brought his legs from under the insect's head and slammed them violently into the monster's remaining head, feeling the chitin press down under the impact. Josh finally swung his legs to the side and nearly stuck the barrel of his shotgun into the creature's face and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang and a hideous 'splurt' permeated all around the empty corridor. The insect's other head had been completely decimated, staining the rest of its body with greenish yellow ooze along with a small portion of Josh's shotgun's barrel. Josh continued lying on the floor, looking back at his newest kill, his mind feeling as if had gone blank from the sudden occurrence. Soon he came back to his senses and slowly lifted himself up from the metal floor, dusting himself off afterwards and loading a fresh shell into his shotgun's chamber.

"Sent you back to hell." Josh thought looking at the beheaded insect monster. "That's where things like you belong."

Josh went over to his dropped backpack and picked it up. Josh began walking back to where Ricky and Helene were waiting for his return, strapping his backpack back on while doing so. Getting back into the dark corridor, he walked all the way back to the security office. Opening the door, he stumbled upon his fellow survivors checking the various papers scrambled onto the table inside the office.

Ricky looked at Josh with a smile and said, "Looks like ya made it kid."

"Nothing to it." Josh commented pulling the fuse from his jeans' pocket. "Just a little bug that got in the way."

"At least you came back in one piece." Ricky said snatching the fuse from Josh. "Now let's get to the power room."

The survivors left the security office and walked towards the door opposite of it. Ricky held up his SOCOM with one hand while taking hold of the door handle with the other. He forcefully pushed down the handle and swung the door open, aiming the SOCOM inside the room with both hands, but he couldn't see any threats, except a dim grey wall in front of him with a pair of pipes attached to it. The room itself was dark, just like the corridor was. He stepped through the door, looking around above him and listening for any unworldly noises. He waited a whole fifteen seconds at most before signaling Josh and Helene to follow. The room began to darken farther ahead, preventing the survivors from seeing anything at all unlike in the corridor.

"And I didn't bring a flashlight." Josh grumbled, warily listening for any monsters.

"And I only got one signals flare left…" Ricky said remembering the total amount of flares his unit's members were given and how many he'd used up. The first was spent in the subway station stairway and the other burnt just recently.

The survivors were now at the mercy of the dark. With very little vision, they would be vulnerable for any surprise attacks and they couldn't use their firearms to maximum efficiency since aiming was made impossible.

"Helene, you better go and wait in the security office." Ricky told. "Josh, you stay with me and cover the rear."

"Right." Josh nodded.

"Do you know how to find the correct fuse?" Helene asked.

"If we come up to a set of red lights and one of them isn't shining, then that's the one. Right?" Ricky asked, having read the instructions earlier. "Wait for us. We'll try to be quick."

Helene went back through the door of the security office while Josh and Ricky were left at the mercy of the darkness, and the possible creatures lurking inside the power room. For the first time one of their senses was now made useless and would lead to their doom if a creature such as a Licker would be hiding in the power room.

"Stay quiet kid. And try staying calm. Don't go firing your gun carelessly." Ricky said quietly.

Josh nodded in response and switched his handgun's safety off. The two men the began to sneak into the dark room as quietly as possible. Ricky took the front, training his SOCOM ahead of him; the laser aiming module's light not doing any illuminating. Josh crept backwards behind Ricky and did his best to see if anything was coming up from the back.

Josh remembered being deathly afraid of the dark back when he was a little boy. He remembered having to sleep with a nightlight, afraid of any dark corner or crack in his room, thinking that the boogieman was going to jump out from them and eat him. Actually, it felt like those feeling were coming back to Josh. He was in the dark, now with monsters really being all around him, waiting to massacre him when they got the chance. Not completely sure, but Josh felt as if his hands were shivering and sweating. Thankfully his gloves were able to keep the grip on his gun tight and he had removed his fingers from the trigger so he'd not pull on it by mistake.

Josh suddenly walked into something, eliciting a gasp of surprise and quickly lifting his gun higher.

"Easy kid. It's just me." Ricky whispered audibly.

"Why are we stopping?" Josh whispered.

"Found the electrical box." Ricky replied. "Thankfully I'm not completely blind as a bat when doing this." Ricky said, referring to the tiny red lights shining from the direction of the wall he was supposedly facing. Both survivors could easily see that a light in the middle of the rest was turned off. Ricky used his hand to feel for the fuses, first checking how they had been set up so that he wouldn't accidentally take out a still functioning one.

"Hold this for me, would ya?" Ricky asked and tugged Josh with the grip of his SOCOM, the gun leaving his hand afterwards. Ricky then took out the new fuse from one of his utility vest's pockets. He then took hold of the broken fuse. Just like it had said in the manual, he turned it right and took it out of its plug. Ricky then inserted the new fuse in the plug and with the turn of his wrist the red light under the fuse turned on and in only seconds the room was illuminated by a bright flash.

"Done and done huh?" Josh asked presenting Ricky back his handgun.

"You betcha kid." Ricky replied taking his gun back and dropping the broken fuse on the floor, a low 'clang' eliciting from metal hitting metal, making the survivors jump back from surprise. Just then a vent cover came falling on the unsuspecting Ricky, with something large and familiar clinging onto it.

Josh almost felt like jumping back a mile, but due to a second shock in less then a second he lost his balance and fell rear first on the cold floor, the buttons decorating his jeans' pockets eliciting softer clangs. There he was, with a friend, in the mercy of yet another unworldly Umbrella creation dubbed as a Licker. But it seemed that this Licker looked different compared to the ones from earlier. Unlike the Lickers he'd seen in the alleys, this one was larger and had dark greenish muscle tissue instead of the sickly pink. It also possessed claws that were a few good inches longer and were smeared in blood by their tips. But he didn't have time to stare at it. He had to act fast if he was to save his friend Ricky who was under the beast, only a vent cover separating them. But no matter how much he wanted, he couldn't aim his gun, or even scream. His whole body felt cold, frozen, frozen from the mere sight of the monster.

The Licker at first didn't seem to react to anything, but upon sensing the body heat and growls of pain from below it, it hissed loudly, bearing its sharp incisors and tongue as if excited. Ricky clearly knew that if he tried to act dead now would be suicide, so now t was up to brute force and killer instinct if he were to get out from under the beast. With a loud growl of pain and anger, Ricky pushed up on the vent cover and with all the muscles in his upper body, turn the vent over, this time with the Licker under it. Ricky then stomped onto the vent seal with as much force as he could, the metal crushing down onto the monster, but it wasn't going to be enough to stop it… and his SOCOM was not in his hands!

"Josh! For God's sakes don't just sit there!" Ricky yelled, continuing to restrain the monster with all his weight concentrated on his right leg, but the monster was starting to prevail in the duel of strength. Ricky couldn't start reaching for his SOCOM lying on the metal floor and if he were to un-strap his assault rifle, all the weight in his body concentrated into his leg would weaken and the Licker would surely slaughter the both of them. "Throw me my gun!"

Josh could clearly hear his friends yells for help along with the monster's enraged screeching added with its claws clanging onto the vent cover. But he couldn't move. He wanted to, but it felt like something was holding him down. It wasn't injury, for he felt no pain, but he felt cold, colder than the metal floor he was sitting on. His eyes were wide open, gazing at the predicament before him. It was clear to him what it was. It was fear, pure, uncontrollable fear. All the stress from the continuous fleeing, the sight and memories of all the unworldly monsters lurking everywhere, it was beginning to affect him greatly…

"Josh! Are you deaf!? Throw me a fucking gun!" Ricky yelled louder, still having the Licker subdued, but he wasn't going to last much longer. The Licker stretched it head over the vent seal and let out another high-pitched shriek, making Ricky feel like his ear drums were going to explode. The shriek weakened Ricky enough for the licker to get both of its arms freed. The monster lashed out at Ricky's leg, but Ricky managed to pull his leg away, but he could feel the air currents of the creature's claws through his pant leg. Now with the monster being freed, Ricky hurriedly backed onto a wall and watched as the creature furiously threw the vent cover off of itself and turned onto its stomach.

Ricky kept his breathing as quiet as possible, knowing the monster was attracted to noise. But it must have had a sense of smell much keener than a human's so it was sure to find the humans' positions with ease. The Licker started slowly moving towards Josh, its large, sickle-like claws clicking on the metal floor. Ricky now began to feel so scared to even un-strap his rifle, cold sweat trickling down his forehead as he helplessly watched the monster advance towards Josh.

Josh still felt frozen, now seeing the creature freed and moving towards him menacingly, its blood covered claws giving it a demonic appearance. The monster was sure to keep on advancing and finally tear him to pieces with them and devour him. And that would be the end, ending up as a pile of disembodied organs and gore…

"I don't want to…" Josh though, though not sure of it, felt his fingers tighten around his handgun that still remained in his hand. "No…" His eyes widened to their widest, and his teeth clenched together forcefully. Suddenly with inexplicable reflexes, Josh leapt to his feet and yelled: "I won't die!!" And began firing relentlessly at the creature with his handgun.

The bullets began to tear away at the Licker's tissue, eliciting pained demonic screeches from the monster. Josh progressed towards the monster while firing madly at it, his clip not even in the brink of running dry since the particular handgun used twenty-round clips. Josh then noticed Ricky's handgun right before his feet. He picked up the chunkier handgun and continued firing madly at the Licker with both guns. A cacophony of gunshots and occasional shrieks filled the small room and could be heard in the security office, Helene worriedly looking in the noise's direction. After a few minutes went past, the two handguns in Josh's clammy hands let out only audible clicks. The Licker's body's top portion was now a whole ridden pile of flesh and blood. Josh collapsed on his knees, his head hung low and he breathed quickly.

Ricky approached Josh, making his way past the mutilated Licker and kneeling down besides the boy. Ricky gently placed a hand on Josh's shoulder and carefully shook him.

"You alright kid?" He asked quietly, seeing as Josh was seriously stressed from the whole ordeal.

Josh in response held up his left hand which held Ricky's SOCOM. Ricky took the handgun back and continued trying to comfort Josh.

"Don't go loosing it on me kid." Ricky said worried.

Josh's head slowly lifted and turned to look at Ricky. For a few long seconds there was total silence. Ricky thought Josh had lost it completely now, but somehow his behavior seemed far from crazy. Instantly a cheesy smile appeared on the teen's face.

"Too Rambo-like huh?" Josh asked.

Ricky felt surprised at first, but then smiled back at Josh.

"A little maybe." Ricky said back. "If you were acting you'd impress people a lot more than that guy."

Josh chuckled and got back up on his feet, Ricky doing the same. Both of them looked down at the mutilated Licker and then back at themselves. The two began laughing brightly for a short time.

"Thought I'd really go and loose it just like that?" Josh asked. "I've seen enough shit as it is so don't go doubting me Ricky." Josh said confidently.

"Surely you haven't experienced something _this_ bad." Ricky replied.

"I've had a thermometer up my ass." Josh shot back and laughing at his own remark. Ricky laughed in response, happy that his teenage friend was safe and sane.

"Okay you got me." Ricky said. "Now let's say we get going and perhaps make it out until dinner?"

"Sounds good man." Josh replied. With that said, the two survivors walked out of the power room.

-

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Helene heard the door to the security office open. She looked and saw Josh and Ricky, both safe and sound thankfully.

"Good lord, what was that?" She asked them, referring to the screaming and gunshots she heard earlier.

"It's nothing to worry about." Josh replied and walked up to the table, ejecting his handgun's clip at the same time. He set the weapon down on the table and began filling the clip with 9mm rounds.

"Yup, no problems." Ricky agreed leaning next to the door and fitted his own gun's clip with 45 ACP rounds. "So just forget about it."

Helene raised an eyebrow as she watched the two reload their handguns. She could have sworn she heard a chaotic battle going outside, hearing high pitched shrieks, Ricky's yells and finally a yell "I won't die!", followed by numerous gunshots. But these two survivors were saying it was something not to worry about? She had a lot of problems to worry about now as it was, but then thought perhaps she should just forget about it.

After finishing in filling their clips, the survivors placed them inside their handguns. Now they were ready to continue exploring the Umbrella facility with the power now restored to the rest of the first floor. The three survivors left the safety of the security office and made their way out of the door riddled corridor.

Back in the main corridor, the survivors had yet another glance of the dead insect creatures lying in their own green blood along with black remnants of artificial leather that was once Josh's jacket. The survivors made their way back to the door that had refused to open. Ricky walked ahead of Josh and Helene, approaching the door with his SOCOM raised. As he got close enough to the door, the hiss of hydraulics sounded and the door rose up, exposing a new path.

The survivors walked through the door and after getting enough distance, the door shut by itself with another hiss of hydraulics. The survivors now entered another corridor, which didn't stretch too far with a door at the end. Upon getting closer to it, there was also a left turn.

"I'll check this place out first. You wait until I call you." Ricky said as he took hold of the door's metallic handle. Like before, he quickly pulled the door open and stepped inside with his gun pointed forward.

Beyond the door was another small corridor with yet another door at the end, this one labeled with a yellow triangle with the biohazard symbol inside it. There also seemed to be another turn left in the middle of the corridor. Ricky attempted to search it too. He stuck his back onto the wall and walked closer to the turn with his gun at the ready in case something in there was going to give him an un-welcomed surprise. With a swift motion, Ricky threw himself into the turn, but then something made him raise an eyebrow. What he thought to be a turn was not a turn at all.

"What in the hell is that?" He wondered observing what was in front of him.

He then heard the door he came in from opening. He looked back to see Josh and Helene walking up to him.

"It was sorta taking you and we thought we'd come see what's the problem." Josh explained briefly.

"I wouldn't call this a problem kid." Ricky said and turned his gaze towards what originally was thought to be a left turn.

Josh and Helene went beside Ricky and looked what he was gazing at. This made Helene raised her eyebrows from confusion while Josh squinted to check if his eyes weren't fooling him, which they thankfully weren't.

The survivors were gazing at a large wall painting that seemed out of sight when a person first enters the corridor. The painting depicted a golden gate sitting atop a mass of clouds and surrounded by a beautifully clear blue sky. Small child-like angels were depicted flying around the gate. Below the gate was a stone placard, probably granite, which was rimmed with what looked like real gold. Josh knelt down to see what was written on the placard.

"Our heavenly father who wishes to have all under his wing. Though caring and forgiving, darkness within thou will fill him with sorrow. Only if thou confess the seven sins, will the gateway to our Lord's loving arms open." Josh read out loud tracing his finger on the text.

"And look at this." Ricky pointed over Josh's head towards a set of thin slot-holes right under the gate. There were seven of them in all, placed in a line.

"This must be it. The door to the underground facility." Josh figured as he stood back up. "But man, did they pick the wrong comparison for their lair."

"It looks like someone's already inserted one card in here." Helene pointed out, pulling out the card in the second last hole on the right. This card portrayed a picture of a man stabbing another one in the back. The man being stabbed showed a face of pure agony and he was shown dropping a small statue-like object. Helene was also able to notice another statue-like object between the stabber's legs. Written above the tow figures was the word: Envy.

"That makes six cards." Ricky noted. "You better put that one back where it was."

Helene was happy to oblige and she inserted the card back into the slot. Now they survivors had gathered six of the needed cards, but now the last one was somewhere yet to be found.

"Ricky, ya think they're supposed to be put in some sort of order?" Josh asked curiously. If they placed the cards in any order, could it have been that the door wouldn't open? Or what if the door was equipped with a state of the art safety mechanism? Sure, Josh got those ideas from various movies he'd seen and a ridiculous videogame his friend Raul plays sometimes. But now, Josh knew he had to be prepared for anything.

"I'm not sure." Ricky responded shaking his head. "But either way we're still one card short."

"Then let's go find it." Josh said determined and began walking back the way he and his two survivors mates had come from.

"Whoa, kid." Ricky quickly followed and grabbed Josh by the shoulder. "Don't go playing hero again alright? We'll all go." Ricky said seriously.

Helene reluctantly followed and the three survivors resumed their hunt for the last cardkey. They left the small corridor where they now knew to go once they got the final cardkey. Now the only places they hadn't searched throughout the first floor was the left turn before the door leading to the room with the secret door and the room which had the biohazard marking on the door, a clear warning that once somebody stepped in there, it could harm his or her health gravely.

The survivors crept through the corridor towards yet another door, this one being electronically locked. Ricky swiped the card reader through the reader and the hiss of hydraulics came, the door lifting open in an instant. Ricky once again stepped through the door with his SOCOM trained forward. He tool a quick look around the area before signaling Josh and Helene to follow. After gaining enough distance from the door, another hiss of hydraulics emanated and the door slid shut.

This room, as Josh could picture it, looked like a high tech science room. Three large tables had been bolted down onto the floor into a row, several chairs having been placed besides them, but most of them had been knocked over. On each table were three computer modules and large piles of papers scattered around them, indicating that they had been searched. Also opposite form the door was a row of three foot tall containers, many vials and tubes of unknown chemicals packed inside them.

"Let's say we clean up a little?" Josh asked jokingly.

With no responses, the three survivors got to work searching the tables for the cardkey. Josh took the first right in front of the door, Helene took the middle one and Ricky took the last one farthest from the door. Josh hurriedly and sloppily looked through the paper pile, hoping to find the cardkey as fast as possible. The city was a nightmare come true to him in any sense of the word and staying any long was far from inviting. The fatigue of having run for two whole days was starting to take its toll on the teen. His eyes felt like they burned and he had begun to blink more than usual. He hadn't recalled any yawning, though was more concerned on if he can stay sharp just for a while longer. If he lost any strength to use his awareness or deftness in gun-handling, he would be in serious trouble, especially if he was to encounter more Lickers, Hunters or the strange insect monsters creeping around in the roof.

Josh instantly snapped out of his thoughts, noticing that the more deeply he thought about weariness, the more tired he began to feel. He slid his backpack down on the floor and opened the biggest pouch, taking out one of the water bottles he had taken along. He opened the bottle and took four big gulps of cool water, making him feel slightly refreshed. With that he began shuffling through the mass of papers again, hoping to find anything flat and plastic.

"I found it!" Helene called out, making Josh and Ricky look up from the mass of papers. They saw Helene holding another plastic card in her fingers. Josh could make out the picture side of the card and Ricky was fully convinced seeing the familiar white side with the small shining circle between them.

"Good work Helene." Ricky complimented walking away from the desk he was searching. "Now let's open that door and get this over with." He then took he card from Helene and added it into the pocket containing the rest of the needed cards.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Josh thought looking down on the desk he was searching a moment ago. "Especially about that 'Genome' thing Helene's mother was talking about…" He thought back to the part where Helene's mother Misao Nayami pictured the characteristics of some embryo they transplanted inside a girl test subject who supposedly began to mutate into a hideous creature Josh couldn't begin to imagine.

"You alright there kid?" Josh was snapped back into reality by a gentle tug from Ricky.

"…Yea, I'm ok." Josh replied bluntly.

"I know this is gonna be tough, but hey, don't go loosing that optimism." Ricky said, patting Josh on the back to hopefully boost the motivation.

"Don't worry. Those shitbags aren't gonna stop me when I have this baby." Josh replied confidently patting the magnum strapped into his belt.

"Just don't go loosing all your ammo for that." Ricky reminded with a dead serious tone. "You're gonna need it sooner…"

"Yea…" Josh agreed, remembering the Lickers, Hunters and the two-headed insects he had fought earlier, the last time a Licker had almost gotten him and Ricky killed, hadn't he had that strange rush of adrenaline that made him kill the monster instantly. "Let's just get going."

The survivors made their way out of the room and back into the corridor where nothing new thankfully had come out of hiding. They walked towards the turn between the door to the outer corridor and the room with the painting on the wall. They reentered the room with the painting. They now had the last six card keys needed to reveal the door to the underground facility, but then the next problem came up…

"What order are we supposed to put them in?" Josh asked, looking up a Ricky who seemed to know something about religion.

"Umm…" Ricky rubbed the back of his head with his eyes closed as he thought of a possible solution. "You got me there kid…" Ricky sighed.

"Great…" Josh murmured. To show his annoyance, he kicked the painting lightly. "Crawl out of one hole and into another…"

"But what if…" Helene thought. She slid down her backpack and took out the diary of her deceased mother Misao and began to flip through the pages.

"What're ya doing Helene?" Josh asked looking down at the Japanese girl who was looking through the small diary.

"Maybe mother left a clue in her diary." Helene replied. "If there really is a certain order to insert these cardkeys, and since mother worked here, she might have had to memorize them here." She explained quickly looking through the pages.

"Great idea Helene." Josh complimented and knelt down besides Helene.

"I may have another idea kids." Ricky spoke.

"Really? What's that?" Josh asked looking up and Ricky.

"Could I see that diary Helene?" Ricky asked extending his hand.

Helene shut the diary and gave it to Ricky. The U.B.C.S soldier opened the diary again, and checked the cover… Something scribbled in it caught his interests.

"There's the son of a bitch!" Ricky spoke happily. "Thanks Helene!" He tossed the diary back to Helene and knelt down in front of the painting. He took out the six cards and looked through them. He first took the lust card and placed it on the first slot on the left. Next he placed the gluttony card and placed that to the hole next to the one where he placed lust. Next was greed, then sloth, wrath and the card they found last coincidentally into the last slot.

Helene opened the diary and looked at the cover. Inscribed on the back of the cover where the seven deadly sins written in a specific order, which was lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. Just then a mechanical beep sounded form the painting and small green lights shone from above the card slots. The painting then slid into the wall, revealing what looked like a very capacious elevator.

"Bless you mother Helene! We just got in because of her!" Ricky spoke almost as excited as a child.

Helene looked down at the diary of he mother. A small tear escaped from her eye. It slid down on her grime and sweat covered face and dropped off her chin onto the cover of her mother's diary. She then began sobbing… She then hugged the diary of her mother and began sobbing harder, remembering the truth, that her dear mother was now dead…

"Mother…" She whimpered as more tears leaked out of her eyes. "Why…" She whined and continued sobbing.

"Great going!" Josh snapped while shooting an angry glare at Ricky.

Ricky turned away from the two teenagers and crossed his hands with his head hung down in remorse for what he just did. He didn't intend to make Helene cry, but his excitement got the better of him, knowing they might get closer to escaping the city limits before they were all screwed. "I'm sorry…" He said rather meekly.

Josh gently took hold of Helene's shoulder. "Helene, please don't cry." He spoke as softly as he could.

"Why shouldn't I?" She snapped glaring at Josh furiously. "My mother's dead! She's gone! You hear me?! Dead!!" She yelled.

"Calm down Helene." Josh replied, trying to sound calm. "I'm sorry about your family, but you can't just quit now, we have to get outta here."

"What difference does it make?" Helene asked, followed by a sniff. "I'm alone now… Wouldn't matter if I'd died myself…"

Josh's grip on Helene's shoulder suddenly tightened, making Helene wince from the pressure. Josh's eyes had widened from shock of what she had just said.

"Don't you dare say that!" Josh shouted furiously. "You can't die Helene! You have to live on!"

"But my family…"

"I told you already, I'll take care of you!" Josh replied, sounding much like a retort. He went quiet staring at Helene's eyes, which were still leaking tears, making the area around them slightly pinkish. He loosened his grip on the girl's shoulder and his face softened. "Helene… I know your family meant a lot to you, but if you don't live on, who's gonna avenge them?" He asked. "You gotta get outta here and help me, Ricky and everyone else bring Umbrella to justice for the deaths of your family and all the other people who were killed during this outbreak. You can't just cry about it, you gotta make your family feel proud of you. Show them that you're a strong girl."

Helene looked at Josh with a puzzled expression, but the way Josh pronounced, they made her feel strangely warm inside.

"After all…" Josh began, "…They're watching over you." He ended with a warm smile.

Helene still gazed at Josh, his words beginning to really sink in this time. it was true, her family might have been dead, but she as the last Nayami residing in the U.S had her duty to avenge their unrighteous deaths. She suddenly dropped her mother's diary and wrapped her arms around Josh. This in turn surprised Josh and elicited a smirk from Ricky who was watching over his shoulder.

"Thanks Josh." Helene whispered as she rested her head on Josh's shoulder. Even though the boy stank of sweat and had his face and hair covered in dust and grime, he felt very comforting. "I'll do it. I will make mother, father, Osamo and grandmother proud." She loosened her hug on Josh, seeing as the boy's face had begun to turn red. But in her opinion, Josh looked very adorable in that state.

"Well love birds, think it's about time we get going?" Ricky asked, with a mischievous smirk formed on his lips.

"H-hey!" Josh shouted out of annoyance.

"We are Ricky, we are." Helene said after picking up her mother's diary.

"I am so going to kick your ass after we get the fuck outta here!" Josh threatened as the survivors stepped inside the elevator that was once cleverly hidden.

"Whatever kid, save that for the zombies." Ricky chuckled while inspecting the control board in the elevator.

Josh frowned slumping next to the wall opposite the elevator door while Helene secretly giggled from his behavior. Ricky pressed a set of buttons on the control board and the door of the elevator closed with a hiss. The elevator then began to descend, to their very last destination, the secret Umbrella facility…

A/N: Thought I gave up huh? Did ya? Sorry for the wait since school's kept me busy as well as WoW, which I'm seriously cutting down on. Please review as I'd like to hear what you think about the new plot twists, and maybe the little something growing between Josh and Helene. Anyway, I'll start on chapter 21 immediately. Also, this chapter was purposely made twenty pages long as to honor how far I've come. Thanks to all my readers and everybody else who supported me.


	21. Chapter 21: The Depths of Hell

Chapter 21: The Depths of Hell

The descent felt as if it was taking hours. Not too sure about the hunch, but that's what the three Raccoon City survivors felt at the point standing in the capacious secret elevator. So far, they had reached the chemical storage facility, and had solved the strange puzzle of the seven deadly sins. But was that going to be enough? They all knew that the underground facility was one of Umbrella's main experimentation facilities and was surely also crawling with more of Umbrella's hellish products, possibly ones they had yet to encounter out on the streets or in the storage facility. They had to be ready for this last hurdle and make it out of the city alive.

The survivors were patiently waiting for the elevator to reach its final destination. As a precautionary measure, they were all checking up on their cherished equipment. Ricky was just finishing in filling the clip of his SOCOM since he had to save his assault rifle clips for later, having used up his own stock and the ones he'd received from Matt were beginning to run low, having one in the rifle and two left in his utility belt. He was also down to his last grenade, which he had to save for a tight spot.

Josh had fitted an eighth shell into his shotgun and chambered the first one. He had more than plenty of 12-gauge shotgun shells, having stocked up on a considerable amount back at the shooting range. Unfortunately he only had a little over two speedloaders' worth of magnum rounds for his S&W, so he had to save that against the Hunters or anything else he hadn't yet seen. His 9mm ammo on the other hand was the most plentiful, having stocked himself, Ricky and Helene with them. But the guns compatible with those were only effective enough against zombies, zombie dogs and his Beretta M93R's burst mechanism seemed slightly effective against probably the Lickers. If Ricky's hunch of there being an armory was correct, perhaps he'd find more ammo for his magnum and maybe a little extra.

Helene, having not fought in the storage facility at all didn't need to reload her AUG rifle since it held a full clip at the moment. Her concerns were not her equipment or anything else around her, but the fact of discovering her mother Misao's death. Her only reminders of her mother and her entire family was now only in her memory and a photo she had taken with her which was currently in her pocket, folded neatly as not to mar the picture. She now knew for sure that her grandmother, brother and mother were now dead… but she strangely still held hope that her father was alive. Was it possible? Could he be hiding somewhere within the facility from the creatures? What if she wasn't too late to save him?

Helene looked up from the white floor of the capacious elevator, suddenly feeling a small glimmer of hope inside. She decided now that her other primary mission along with finding the cure for her infection was to make sure did his father die too and if not, she could escape along with Josh, Ricky and her father Jonouchi.

"Something wrong?"

Helene snapped back into reality. Josh was looking at her with a slightly raised brow while sloppily twirling his handgun with his index finger.

"N-no…" Helene stuttered. "Well… Do you think my father's alive?" She then asked.

"Your father?" Josh asked. His hold on his handgun suddenly failed as it slipped off from his finger, but he was able to grab it by the muzzle. "What made you think that?"

"Well, it's just that I've seen my family being killed but… I just wonder if my father might possibly be alive down here." Helene explained, her voice appearing to hold a hint of hope.

Josh took hold of his handgun correctly and slumped onto the wall in thought. He wasn't too sure how to answer, but if a human being had been alive down in a facility which was probably crawling with more of the unworldly monsters he'd encountered above ground Raccoon City, the chances of a lone person or even a small group may have had little of a chance, especially if most of them were only scientists, who had little or no experience in survival unlike he and Ricky. Josh decided that the best choice of words was to make it sound just at least a little possible if not impossible.

"Well, I can't quite put my finger on it, but maybe he is alive." Josh spoke with a tone that showed genuine approval. "Maybe hiding behind a reinforced door for all we know or something." But in truth, having seen what Umbrella's creatures were capable of, he was more sure that no one was alive down in the facility, but he didn't have the heart to say that.

"_Don't be disappointed, but we just might find him dead…_" Ricky thought glancing at Helene remorsefully.

After a few minutes had gone past, the elevator came to a halt. Then an audible 'ping' permeated the ominous silence of the elevator and the steel doors began to slide open. With that, Ricky set off the safety of his SOCOM.

"This is it kids, you better be ready." He warned his fellow survivors.

As if to make the situation feel more dramatic, Josh twirled his handgun once more and then grabbed hold of it with both hands.

"Let's do this." He said in a serious manner.

The three survivors stepped out of the elevator, into a small room that seemed to be circular from first glance. Getting some distance from the elevator, which closed its doors as soon as the survivors were far enough, they looked around and discovered the room to really be circular. It was a plain white room, with a huge pillar in the middle, which housed the elevator. And to the left, right, front and behind the elevator were doors, double doors seemingly made from steel. The entire room was illuminated by bluish glowing tubular lamps placed in the recess of the wall and roof, giving the place an eerie atmosphere.

"Dirty secrets, monsters for products and fittingly, eerie taste." Josh commented bluntly.

"You said a mouthful." Ricky replied. "It's like out of a B-grade sci-fi movie."

Helene was able to spot a board attached to the wall, close to the steel doors precisely opposite of the elevator's doors. She went closer to examine it closer. The board showed what seemed to be a map of the complex. The building had a quadrangular shape and it was divided into four sectors. In the middle of the picture a black circle showed the elevator and on the side of the elevator was a small red dot that had "You are here" written below it.

"Hey, come look at this!" Helene called out to Josh and Ricky.

The men approached Helene and looked at the map themselves.

"Hmm, looking at this makes it feel so small, but I bet my ass it's gonna be huge." Josh said.

"Damn straight." Ricky agreed. "Okay, let's see if they have a room for vaccines." He looked at the make more carefully and brought his finger up to browse through the names of the many rooms. So far, he hadn't found anything involving vaccines. "Nothing."

"So we're just gonna have to do this the old fashion way." Josh figured, switching his gaze to the door to the right of the map.

"Bad news," Ricky suddenly spoke. "Looks like this place has more floors." He pointed at the clearly written '1st Floor' text on the upper right corner of the map.

"Son of a bitch…" Josh murmured. "Well, better get a head start then." He concluded and approached the steel double doors.

"Wait up there kiddo, we don't even know what's in there." Ricky warned. "How about we try a bit of a more subtle approach and see just how many floors there are in this place?"

Josh snorted looking back at Ricky. "And how are we going to do that?"

"Just check the elevator control panel on how many floors there really are." Ricky replied. "C'mon."

The survivors went back to the elevator doors. With the push of a button on the side of the doors, the elevator opened up again. They stepped inside and Ricky began checking the control panel.

"How'd you learn to operate that thing?" Josh asked curiously.

"They had the same kinds of elevators back at base. Don't worry, this'll only take a minute." Ricky assured and pressed a few buttons on the control panel. "Okay, here we go…" He pressed a few more.

"So?" Josh asked.

"We're in luck. Looks like there's just two floors in the whole complex." Ricky replied, sounding relieved to a certain extent. "Let's see if we can access that." He began to prepare the elevator to descend into the lower levels, but he suddenly stopped everything, as if stunned. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Josh asked worried.

"This son of a bitch demands a numerical code before we can go!" Ricky growled, getting the urge to grab his knife and drive it through the control panel's screen, but held back since they were going to need the elevator to escape. "Dammit." He snapped.

"So, are we doing it the old fashion way?" Josh asked, with a small smirk on his face.

"No choice kid." Ricky replied. "Okay, we'll take the door right in front of us." Ricky said pointing at the double doors.

The survivors made their way out of the elevator and approached the steel doors, the familiar feeling of dread, fear and malevolence returning. Ricky took hold of the door handle and with a swift motion forcefully pulled the door open and trained his SOCOM inside. He was glad to see he was only aiming into an empty, brightly lit corridor.

The corridor had plain white walls and a dark grey floor. The place felt brighter than any other area the three survivors had been in during their venture around the viral infected city, possibly since the walls had sets of bright tubular lights attached to the roof. Good lighting meant that they could now spot the enemy more easily since they didn't have any good places to stalk their intended prey, except the Hunters and possibly the giant insectoids they saw aboveground.

Josh admitted that this corridor felt much more comfortable than most areas in the city, but since it was one of Umbrella's research facilities, which housed samples of the very virus that destroyed the town. Where there was T-virus, there were zombies and since it was a research facility for viral experiments, there had to be Lickers, Hunters and the giant insects, hell, probably something they hadn't seen earlier aboveground.

Much to their luck, they spotted a directory to their left. Written down onto it were the different rooms the sector housed. Written from top to bottom were: Chemical Storage, Laboratory no.1, Computer Archives, Synthesis Room, Office Quarters and Testing Lab.

"Convenient." Josh sarcastically quipped. "C'mon, let's hurry." He said demandingly.

"Easy there kiddo." Ricky replied. "We gotta be careful."

"I know that, I just wanna get this shit over with." Josh retorted.

"Don't we all?" Ricky asked. "Just follow me kids and let's be calm about this, alright?"

"Whatever you say Ricky." Helene said.

"Great, now, we'll take the left turn first." Ricky explained, referring to the fork in the corridor. "We'll see if we'll find the code for the elevator, or possible info on Helene's cure. Afterwards we'll head right and simply just repeat if we don't get any bites at first."

"Okay." Josh nodded with approval.

The survivors cautiously walked to the fork in the corridor, listening intently for anything unusual. At first everything felt quiet, only the hum of the air conditioning was audible. But after stating completely silent, up to holding their breaths, they heard footsteps, not normal footsteps, but shuffling, limping and dragging footsteps. As if on cue, a low guttural groan emanated from somewhere within the corridor. Afterwards it was followed by another slightly weaker one. The survivors didn't even need to guess, tat was the familiar voice of zombies.

"Thought so." Josh murmured. "No rest for the wicked."

"We can handle 'em kids, there probably aren't too many." Ricky said quietly.

"And if there are?" Josh asked.

"Don't be a wise ass okay kid?" Ricky replied bluntly. "Let's go."

The survivors stepped into the fork and looked in both directions. Both sides were clean of anything dangerous, in which the survivors continued to the left. They almost instantly came to a door, one made out of steel, just like the ones they used to enter the corridor. A few feet after the door came a turn to the right. The survivors decided to investigate the next room instead. Josh took hold of the door handle and pushed onto it, but it only budged a little.

"Great, it's locked." Josh growled silently.

"There might be a key here somewhere right?" Helene asked.

"Could be." Ricky replied. "Let's move on."

The survivors took the right turn, which however had three zombies standing there. All three of them were clad in similar lab-coats, and all of them were in the later stages of decomposition, most of their skin wrinkled and gray and not a hair on their heads, except with one, but half of its head had rotted open, exposing rotten tissue over its skull. Instantly Josh began firing at the closest one with his Beretta, two shots in the head taking out the first one, which collapsed prostrated with almost no blood seeping out of its body. Helene took a shot at the one with half an open scalp, the image she got from her scope giving her the creeps, but luckily the undead went down from one shot. Ricky however didn't use his SOCOM, but instead unsheathed his combat knife and charged at the last zombie.

"What the hell…" Josh almost shouted, but then he saw Ricky swiftly dodging the zombie's lunge and he then sunk the blade in the zombie's left temple as deep as he could. After pulling the blade back out, the zombie collapsed to the side into a heap of rotting flesh. Ricky in turn pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped the blood off his blade before placing it back in its sheath.

"Not bad, eh?" Ricky asked with his arms crossed and a confident grin on his face.

Josh walked up to Ricky and said, "Don't scare us like that man." He said fake-whining and chuckled.

"This must be the computer room." Helene spoke looking at a door at the end of the corridor. Her answer was very obvious since next to the familiar steel door was a placard with "Computer Archives" written on it.

"Great, maybe we can find records of their experiments if we're lucky." Ricky said walking towards the door over the corpses with Josh in tow, who unbeknownst to Ricky kicked one of them as if for fun. "Let's just hope it ain't locked." Ricky took hold of the handle and it turned.

After opening the door, the sight of a computer lover's paradise came to view. Right after the door there sat five rows of high-tech computer modules, the most advanced ones up to date. All rows had four computers set on modern white desks, with plasma flat screens sitting on them with the computer module next to it, which were larger compared to the ones used at homes or offices. Due to their size they were able to hold a printer on top of them .At the front of the room the survivors could faintly see an image projector attached to the roof, which was aimed at a wide, plain white screen at the end of the room. In the left and right sides of the large room were shelves filled with archives, folders, papers and other computer related items.

"Well shit." Josh said looking around the room in awe. "Not even the army has anything like these."

"Okay, time to dig up some evidence." Ricky said walking up to the first computer and pulled up a chair to sit on. He turned off the screen saver, which was expectedly the Umbrella logo and began searching through the facility's files.

"You sure you can work that?" Helene asked as she looked over the U.B.C.S grunt's shoulder.

"I'm sure it ain't that hard." Ricky replied nonchalantly. "This could take a while so you kids should have a seat."

Josh wasn't paying attention to Ricky's words for he was already busy looking around the room for anything useful. Looking through the rows of workstations, he hadn't found any corpses, indicating the room hadn't been the site of a battle with the monsters. Walking past all of the rows of computers, he came up to a lone computer, probably linked to the projector… and there was someone sitting on it! Josh pointed his handgun as a precaution, reminded that any corpse could still get up and attack. Having gotten closer to the corpse, he could finally tell that the corpse wasn't rotting. It was a human, a brown haired man, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties. Josh stepped up to the corpse and began examining it for the cause of death. He found a few entry wounds on the back of the head and more around the neck, definitely not a creature or suicide.

"Who could have done this…" Josh wondered looking at the wounds. Since a lot of the wounds were very close to each other, he indicated that it was from an assault rifle or a sub-machine gun. The computer the dead person was working on was still open. By just moving the mouse, Josh turned the screensaver off and found a document on the screen. "What have we here?" He wondered rolling the corpse out of the way.

_As I write this, my life is slowly coming to an end. No one might believe me, but I can only hope this message gets through. I am Richard Holmes, a lab assistant at Umbrella Inc. and what I have to tell you all is very urgent. You may think Umbrella was a mere pharmaceuticals making miracle cures for various deadly diseases and computer hardware, but they fooled you all! They are hiding their true intentions! This company is creating weapons! And not just any weapons, but new biological weapons the world's never seen before! A virus that is capable of turning any human being into a walking dead! And not only that, they are utilizing the virus to create various killing-machines dubbed B.O.Ws, Bio-Organic Weapons. Creature that are designed to slaughter anything in their path! I have detailed reports on these creations, you'll find them by clicking the links below:_

_BOW/prof/V-ACT_

_BOW/prof/MA-121_

_BOW/prof/MA-39_

_BOW/prof/MA-125_

_BOW/prof/MA-124_

_BOW/prof/T-103_

_I beg of you all who read this, please believe me. Raccoon City, where I am based is doomed due to this virus from Hell! Everyone was sealed inside the city limits by the army blockade and now it's too late for anyone. Every citizen is dead or a carrier of the virus and surely doomed. The cure for the T-virus is in the company's hands, so there is no hope. I know I will die, but I deserve it. I helped in the creation of these monsters that should have never existed. I wish that this all comes to a stop, so maybe then God will forgive me._

_They're coming for me as I write this! Please believe me, stop Umbrella! Bring them t_

The message had then stopped, which indicated that Richard Holmes had been shot at that very moment. Another good indication was a few specks of blood on the screen. Josh looked down at the dead lab assistant. Though employed by the very same company that destroyed Raccoon City, he tried to do the right thing before his time came.

"Poor guy…" Josh sighed. "I promise to bring Umbrella to justice, for I believe you. More than just a little." He added. "But let's see what these are…" He took hold of the mouse and clicked the first link. A new window opened and a large picture of a grotesque Licker came onto the screen along with complex text below the image. It had its tongue sticking out of its razor sharp tooth filled mouth and stood crouched down, as is it was attacking whatever was in front of it. "Yeesh, so that's a fancy name for 'Licker'." He quipped as he moved down to the next link.

The next link showed an image of a Hunter, the same kind he, Ricky and Helene fought in the alleys and when taking the truck to each the chemical storage facility. The image was probably taken through a security camera, seeing as it was showed from an upper angle. Also written after it numerical code was the word "Alpha". The next link showed an image of a zombie dog, but strangely this one still retained most of its skin, seeing as it only showed bare gums and a few missing strands of skin from its face. Also written after along with its possible code was "Cerberus", so this variation of a zombie dog must have been called that.

"Really fitting." Josh scoffed and went for the next link.

The next one managed to make him widen his eyes as an image of a creature very similar to the MA-121 Hunter was loaded. This one however looked slightly different. It seemed shorter in size, its stance wasn't as hunched down as the Alpha Hunter's. Its claws were also smaller and it appeared to have small spikes on the back of its head. This Hunter was dubbed as 'Hunter R'. The last link however made Josh almost jump as the new image appeared. This one was also dubbed as a Hunter, but it had the word "Gamma" written after the numerical code. This monster didn't look anything like the two earlier Hunter variations. It stood in a hunched down position, but that's where similarities ended. This monster looked more like a frog, with bluish wart covered skin, webbed fingers and toes that possesses slightly shorter claws and it seemed to have no eyes.

"Mother fucking retards…" Josh scoffed. "You trying to be God or something?" He wondered while still staring at the Gamma Hunter's image.

"What 'cha got there kid?"

Josh looked up at Ricky and Helene who were standing in the side.

"Some info on these monsters we've been fighting all this time." Josh replied briefly. "And it looks like not even some Umbrella employees are too happy with the higher-ups' plans." Josh added.

"What'd ya mean?" Ricky asked.

"Read this." Josh said and stepped back from the computer, which Ricky then occupied. "A message from the dead guy on the floor."

Helene heard the words 'dead' and 'guy', which made her look down on the floor, but found nothing at first, looking forward, she made out a human shape from behind Josh and Ricky, sitting on a rotating computer chair. This made her gasp in freight and cover her mouth with her hand. The gasp was silent enough not to alert Josh or Ricky, who were busy talking about the message.

"Well I'll be, the bloke tried to do it all by himself." Ricky muttered looking at the message in disbelief and to add to the two new monsters they had yet to see.

"Yea." Josh nodded in agreement. "But it's better to die trying than die a looser." Josh stated. He crossed his arms and looked back at the murdered Richard Holmes. Now that he thought about him, if they had gotten there sooner, maybe they could have saved him. The more survivors they'd find and escape with, the better it would feel. These thoughts made him worry more about Jill and Carlos and Kevin and his group of survivors. He hoped that they were all alright. He, Helene and Ricky owed their lives to a lot of the survivors and would forever be grateful for it.

"Well, nothing else we can do here, let's move on." Ricky's voice snapped Josh out of his thoughts. "You alright kid?" Ricky asked, looking at Josh's somehow zoned out expression.

"Yea, just thinking." Josh shrugged off and began walking towards the door.

Ricky began following Josh, but Helene stood still, looking at Richard Holmes's body. Though she'd usually be scarred stiff of a dead body, something aroused suspicion from the corpse, specifically the way he was killed.

"…Whoever it was, either he or she hates Umbrella, or is just crazy…" She though looking at the bullet holes in the back of the man's head.

"Yo Helene! You coming?" Josh shouted from the door of the computer room, making Helene look back at him. She then ran up to Josh and Ricky and they exited the computer room.

The survivors backtracked their steps up to the fork in the corridor, luckily nothing had changed during their stay in the computer archive room. They now took the left turn in the fork and once again advanced with caution, taking small, silent steps with Ricky and Josh taking the front while Helene continued covering the rear. After a few feet they had three choices of direction, forward, which would soon turn right, a right turn or a door a few feet ahead of the turn. Ricky walked up voluntarily and pushed down on the door handle, only to have it budge less than an inch.

"Swell, this one's locked too." He groaned.

"Okay, so which way now?" Josh asked.

"Let's go this way, that way we won't need to backtrack." Ricky said referring to the right turn. "And let's be quiet, I've got a bad feeling about this…" He said cautiously. He brought up his SOCOM. "Follow me."

The survivors treaded cautiously through the corridor, Ricky and Josh holding their weapons trained forward in case of a surprise attack from anything not human. The silent walk didn't take too long before they came to a larger door, made from stainless steel, or possibly something even harder. Plastered onto it were the warning signs of biohazard, poisonous, radioactive and corrosive. Whatever was beyond the door, it didn't sound the least bit healthy.

"Must be that lab mentioned in the directory." Josh figured.

"I'm not so sure we should go in there…" Helene spoke with a feared voice. "It doesn't sound too good for us."

"You're right." Ricky nodded. "Let's go back and check the rest of this place. If we don't find keys for the locked rooms, we're moving on to the next sector." He explained.

Helene and Ricky began walking back, but Josh took one more look at the laboratory door.

"Hmm… If we had a protective suit, maybe…" He thought, but was suddenly distracted by a clanging noise from above, making him point his handgun towards the roof, but nothing was there, just a plain white roof. But the noise was still there. "The hell is that!?"

Ricky and Helene heard the clanging too, looking up as the noise got louder and began to die down. Helene looked around worried that there would have been vents around, while Ricky urged to tighten his hold on his SOCOM.

"What was that?" Helene asked worried.

"Dunno." Ricky replied. "But whatever it is, let's hope it stays in there rather than coming out here."

"You think it was one of those insects?" Josh asked. "I mean, how could anything else make it so audible?"

"You could have a point there." Ricky admitted. "But even so I don't wanna come face-to-face with that anytime soon."

"You and me both." Josh replied, remembering how one of the insects destroyed his favorite jacket. "Revenge would feel sweet though." He thought.

"How about we just go before something really does come out!?" Helene shouted nervously and walked back the corridor hastily.

"Wait Helene, don't go alone!" Ricky warned.

Helene however had already walked almost to the end of the corridor, not even having taken a look if the men had followed. But then something rose up to concern her. Sound of groaning and dragging… This made her hurriedly take a firm hold of her rifle. The sound became louder and louder each second, making her feel more and more frightened. The only creature that could make such a noise was surely a zombie, but despite her numerous encounters with them, she was still nowhere accustomed to them. Their eerie moans made them sound extremely frightening, especially in dark places, their blank, white eyes gave them a cold, soulless appearance and to add to their rotting bodies and disgusting odor. It was enough to drive anyone crazy from fear. The fact that the very same creatures were the ones that devoured her brother Osamo may have also heightened her fear of them.

The dragging got louder every second, which made her trigger finger itch in anticipation… Josh and Ricky however ran up to her and the dragging carried into their ears as well.

Josh could only shrug of annoyance, to him the zombies seeming to be more like pests rather than something to be terribly frightened about. Sure, their outlook made them look disgusting and horrifying, but their massive lack of any intelligence, strength and agility made them almost harmless, except in a horde.

"Don't worry, I got this one." He nonchalantly said. He walked up behind the corner and aimed his handgun at the assailant, but then looked up in shock.

What was dragging itself on the floor was not a zombie, but a human. Though at first glance it would have been impossible to tell the difference, but the person was seen moving his legs along with his body, something zombies didn't do. A zombie dragged itself with only its arms alone. The person was clad in a brown commando suit with a black kevlar vest, black boots, knee and elbow pads, black neoprene gloves and had his head covered by a black helmet and a gasmask with red lenses.

"_Dear God_..." Josh thought looking down at the man, seeing as his legs and lower back had been shred open by something. The man looked up at Josh and reached out to him.

"H-help me…" The man pleaded silently, but then he let out an agonizing yell, added with a noise of sizzling.

Josh leapt back upon seeing the man's legs melting away because of a sickly greenish ooze, most definitely acid. The man continued yelling in pain and agony, the acid eating away through his boots and pants and began eating away at his feet. In the blink of an eye one of the two-headed insect creatures was right on top of him, making Josh step back more quickly.

"The hell's going on there?!" Asked a very frightened Ricky Wallace, coming from around the corner with his SOCOM at the ready. "Jesus Christ!" He gasped.

"Help me!!! Good Lord, help me!!!" The man yelled and continued reaching up with his fingers now cringed due to the excruciating pain and to the loss of his feet.

"For fuck's sake kid!" Ricky shouted and ran to the man, lifted up his helmet and shot the man in the head with his SOCOM.

The insect however then turned its attention towards Ricky. Before the monster could attack, Ricky trained the gun at it with and impressive reflex and fired two rounds at it while stepping backwards. This gave Josh enough time to un-strap his shotgun and trained it towards the creature. His best option was to aim for one of its sickly deformed heads. With the pull of the trigger a buckshot hit the creature's right sided head, making it squirm around and fall limp. Josh chambered a new shell and took quick steps backwards in case the monster would lash out at him. Before he had the chance to aim the monster was being pelted by Ricky's SOCOM.

The creature may have been deathly wounded, but it still didn't intend on giving up. It pulled its body backwards and in the blink of an eye thrust it forward sending a bucket-full of acid at the survivors from its mouth. Josh attempted to turn and run, only to trip into his own feet and fall forward, instinctively thrusting his arm forward to take the impact. While being on the ground and not feeling anything but the pain going up and down his left arm and chest, he heard sizzling. He hurriedly looked at the rest of his body to be only a few inches away from the puddle of acid made by the insect. Then he noticed smoke rising from the tip of his shotgun's barrel. It was being eaten away at by the acid.

"Shit!" He exclaimed and was forced to pull himself away when the insect leapt at him, a swinging claw taking impact with his shotgun and slicing the barrel clean off. Josh hurriedly scrambled to his feet, now holding the remnants of his trusty Remington 870. Its barrel was sliced off along with the foregrip and tubular magazine, making it useless.

The sound of gunfire was quick to return however as Ricky continued shooting away at the insect with his SOCOM. The insect still attempted to swipe at the U.B.C.S grunt a few times, but it all came in vain when after the sixth shot finally put the monster down for good. It slumped down on all six limbs with green blood oozing from within its body.

"You alright kid?" Ricky asked while still having his gun trained at the insect.

"Yea," Josh replied. "But my shotgun's not…" He added looking at the grip and cylinder of his destroyed weapon he still held.

Ricky turned away from the insect and at the same time ejected the SOCOM's clip before saying, "Be glad it wasn't your leg."

"Hell yea. Whoever does his nails is one bad motherfucker." Josh said angrily looking at the insect monster.

"You can come out Helene, its safe." Ricky called out. "…Just a tad messy."

Helene came from around the corner to witness the next sight of gore and destruction. However her attention was quickly darted towards Josh's broken shotgun.

"Your gun broke?" Helene asked.

"Yea. It was such a good gun too." Josh replied disappointedly. "Now it's just scrap metal." He then chucked the remnants of his gun at the insect creature out of anger. "Now all I have is a handgun."

"What about your revolver?" Helene asked with a nod.

"Yea, but I don't suppose I should go wasting this baby's ammo on just anything." Josh replied, remembering his lack of ammunition for the S&W. "Ya still have that bowgun on you?" Josh asked.

"Yes." Helene nodded. "You can have it if you want."

"Please." Josh replied.

Helene knelt down and slung her backpack down on the floor. She opened the largest pocket and took out the hunting bow they had discovered in the R.P.D building. She presented it to Josh, who gratefully took it along with a handful of steel bowgun bolts.

"Appreciate it. Thanks." Josh said gratefully as he placed a bolt in the gun and tightened the wire. The bowgun was a relatively weak weapon, nowhere near as powerful as the shotgun, but he had to make the most of it if he was to save his magnum ammo for later usage.

"We better move it kids. I don't want more of these things showing up anytime soon." Ricky spoke referring to the killed insect creature. "Especially now that Josh's shotgun broke."

The survivors stepped over the sight of gore they had created and carried on forward towards the farther right turn. The whole path had a trail of blood on the floor, but upon taking the turn, another horrifying sight unfolded.

"Dear god…" Josh thought, seeing something yet again that would make him have nightmares for quite a long time.

The remains of another soldier, clad in the same attire and gear as the one the two-headed insect massacred. This soldier's gas mask however was not there and all that was left of his face was a skull with blood and white ooze hanging down its eye-sockets. Also the soldier's Kevlar vest had been shredded open and some of his organs had been devoured. As Helene saw it, she immediately began to shiver and felt like her bile was going up her throat. Her lips began trembling and her stomach began to turn until finally she bent down and threw up on the floor.

"Ew!" Josh sounded, quickly drawing his foot farther from the pile of bile and digested food.

After emptying her stomach, Helene coughed a few times and spit the remaining bile from her mouth in disgust. She then began to feel woozy. Just then Josh walked up to her and held her up.

"You alright?" Josh asked concerned, fully hoping it was just the sight of the corpse, instead of one of the T-virus symptoms, nausea being one of them.

Helene coughed twice before replying, "I'm fine. It's just that…"

"Yea, I know." Josh said, looking down at the corpse. "No one wants to see that, not even me." He looked down at Helene and said, "Let's just hurry past and not look at it alright?"

"Yea." Helene nodded.

The two teenage survivors walked quickly past the savagely slaughtered corpse, with Josh helping Helene stay up due to her wooziness. Ricky couldn't help but watch as the two made their way past the corpse, holding onto each other in such a manner. He smiled in satisfaction seeing the two together like that.

"You go kid." Ricky thought proudly.

The corridor came to yet another door, a plain white one with the words "Office Room" written onto a bronze colored plate. Yet again Ricky took hold of the handle, pushed it down and it thankfully didn't only budge. He threw the door open and stepped inside aiming his gun in different direction looking for any possible threats. Nothing… He entered the room followed by Josh and Helene. The room however was just a small lobby with three doors similar to the one they came through opposite of it. They assumed they were offices for higher ups.

"Hey now, look at this." Josh said as he knelt down to the right.

Ricky and Helene looked at him, seeing that where he faced the blood trail ended. And what they saw lying on the floor was yet another soldier's corpse, this one missing its head. And the soldier's headgear was found lying a few feet away from the corpse… Helene began to feel sick again while Ricky tried peeking over Josh's shoulder.

"What 'cha got there?" Ricky asked.

"Just this." Josh replied and stood up, holding a black sub-machine gun. "An MP-5 of all things." Josh spoke proudly with a smirk on his face. "Not a scratch on this baby, still has its clip and best of all, it's got a suppressor and an LAM attached." He explained as he looked at the gun from all angles. "Now this is a tool for pros."

"Um, I was just wondering…" Helene spoke up. "What are these soldiers doing here in the first place?"

Both males looked at her with raised brows. Now that they thought of it, they hadn't even started to wonder how come there were soldiers in there, who sent them, who they were and what was their purpose.

"Any ideas?" Josh asked Ricky, who had gone to check out the soldier's headgear.

"Not too sure, but since we're in an Umbrella facility, I'd guess they're the U.S.S." He replied looking at the gasmask.

"U.S.S?" Josh wondered. "What's that stand for?"

"Umbrella Secret Service," Ricky replied. "They're a kind of elite force that Umbrella controls. I don't know anything else about them."

"You think it was a rescue mission?" Helene asked.

"Possibly…" Josh replied, but unsurely. "…Or a mass clean-up…"

"You mean…" Helene looked at Josh in shock.

"Yep, kill everything and everyone on sight to prevent anyone talking." Josh nodded. "I already know Umbrella's higher ups are sick pigs, so that's something you should expect."

What Josh just said made Helene feel even more terrified. Josh had said back at the elevator that her father Jonouchi Nayami might still be alive hiding from the monsters, but if the monsters hadn't gotten him, what if the soldiers whose mission Josh thought would have been true already had? She had to fight back hard from screaming out in terror, for freaking out in the facility could lead to something worse, including her, Josh and Ricky's deaths.

"You okay?" Josh suddenly asked looking at Helene. "You're all pale."

Helene snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Josh. She didn't want to make him worry about her yet again, so she had to lie.

"It's nothing, I'm still kind of… grossed out. That's all." Helene said assuredly.

Josh looked at Helene with a raised brow. Though not sure whether to believe her or not, he had to shrug it off and afterwards he ejected the MP-5's clip. "I better reload first." He told his fellow survivors and knelt down while sliding his backpack off.

Just then Ricky dropped a few clips for the sub-machine gun right in front of Josh's feet, making resounding clanks on the tile floor.

"Though you could use these." He said.

"Appreciate it." Josh nodded and began fitting 9mm rounds into the current clip. He was now grateful more than ever since after the loss of his beloved shotgun he would have had to resort to a nearly useless bowgun, but lady luck was on his side as he found a decent weapon like the MP-5, which also used the same bullets hid handgun used and he was luckily well loaded with it. After filling the clip, he placed it into the gun and bulled back on the bolt. "Okay, ready when you are." He smirked.

"Right, now let's say we look what's behind door number one." Ricky spoke as he walked over to the rightmost door in the small lobby.

The door opened without any troubled, but the usual check for hostiles was yet again conducted. No zombie, no unworldly monsters and no sweepers. The survivors entered what seemed like a comfortable office. At the right side corner opposite from the door sat a large desk with a high quality computer screen set atop it along with a keyboard. To the left from that was a large green locker with a bookshelf placed right next to it. Taking a closer look at the desk revealed it to have a black desk cover, a jar with different kinds of pencils and pens. Also placed onto the desk was a nameplate with the name Roger McHale inscribed on it.

"Hmm, not such a bad taste." Josh quipped.

"What do you mean?" Helene asked.

"No human bodies in tubes." Josh replied, making Helene raise a brow in surprise.

"How 'bout you kids check the lockers while I'll see what this McHale guy's all about." Ricky said sitting on the comfy rotating chair.

Josh shrugged and walked to the locker. Purely aware some head of a facility never kept guns or ammunition in his or her locker, but it was better to make sure if something else, such as a coat with something important in the pockets or maybe a first-aid kit. Josh opened to locker…

"Aagh!" Josh yelled stepping back from the locker, a body suddenly slumping down from the locker to where he had stood. Helene held her breath seeing the corpse and Ricky looked up from surprise.

"Son of a bitch!" Josh yelled in disgust. "He didn't need to die in a locker…" He said loudly from the shock.

Ricky got up from the computer chair, turning the prostrated corpse around. It was a middle aged man with hair turning grey and had a thing moustache under his nose. He was clad in a lab coat and seemed to have a bullet hole in both temples. The man's hand still clasped a Beretta M93R and a bit wound was present on is left shoulder. He took hold of the man's nametag which showed a facial shot of the man and his identification.

"Dr. McHale I presume?" Ricky asked, sounding a tad comical. "Must have gotten bit and had to put himself down." He figured the obvious.

Helene then came up with an idea since the man seemed to be in a higher authority than most of the other scientist, in which he had to possess important items, such as keys or cardkeys. She knelt down besides the corpse and dug into his lab coat's chest pocket. This in turn came as a surprise for Josh since Helene had usually been scared of corpses, let alone touching them.

"I found a key." Helene said pulling her hand out of the pocket, holding a large key with a green tag on it.

Josh smiled in relief than they found something yet again to get deeper into the facility. He was also feeling proud, proud of Helene's sudden loss of her necrophobia. Josh took the key from Helene's hand and looked at the tag. It was a key for the Synthesis room.

"Let's see if he's got anything else on him." Josh suggested and began fumbling with one of the McHale's side pockets. All he found was a folded piece of paper. "What's this?" He wondered and unfolded the paper. It was a hastily written note.

_The pain, I can't stand it! I have no choice, I must use the last bullet on myself. If anyone finds my body, I demand you leave immediately via the elevator. The city lays in ruins and the B.O.W's have taken it over, but it's better than dying in here. If you need to, use my key to access the Synthesis room. Instructions for the T-anti-Virus have been left there. Ingredients for the vaccine may be hard to access at this time, but if you still want to live at least a little longer, I highly suggest it. _

_With my last wish, I hoped I wouldn't have been so blind. I feel so itchy, the symptoms are beginning. I have no choice, I choose death over joining our experiments._

Josh looked up from the note in disbelief. The occupying person of the office was a higher-up of Umbrella Inc. and he notices the errors of his ways? Josh almost didn't believe that for a second.

"Well, so far we got a key, that's better than nothing." Ricky figured. "I'm just gonna see if this guy has any useful information to offer so you two wait a minute." He then went and sat back down onto the computer chair and opened one his McHale's desk's shelves.

While Ricky began rummaging through the various papers, Helene stood up and leaned next to the wall besides the bookshelf and leaned her AUG onto it. Josh in other hand was deep in thought. He had no doubt of himself knowing that Umbrella's higher-ups were a big bunch of inhumane scum, but McHale's note made him wonder. Did the higher-up become sane all of a sudden when it was too late, did he realize money wasn't everything or was it something else. Josh knew better than anyone that he was never going to trust someone as messed up as Umbrella as long as he lived. He figured it was best to forget about McHale's note and focus on the task at hand. He guessed he should talk to Helene for now.

"So… feeling alright?" Josh asked, turning to Helene.

Helene looked up at Josh and gave a small nod, "Yea."

"Good." Josh nodded. A few seconds went with complete silence until Josh spoke again, "I hope you'll be able to forget all of this…"

"I'll never forget this…" Helene replied grimly. "I lost my home, my parents, everything…" She added.

Josh sighed. Never in his fifteen years of life did he expect to run into such a hectic situation. All because of taking a bus from Arizona to Kansas, he somehow got within the city limits of Raccoon City, a necropolis overrun by the undead. Then he got to discover that what seemed like a normal pharmaceutical enterprise turned out to be an organization creating tools of death which were anything like it that human kind had seen before. But the most painful part of it all was that now a new friend of his was suffering because of the loss of her normal life.

"Well, let's hope we'll find your father unharmed okay?" Josh asked putting a comforting hand on Helene's shoulder. Though in truth he knew Helene's father had to be dead. If not by the zombies or by the B.O.Ws, then by the Sweepers. Now he had to keep Helene's spirits up until they found her cure and escaped the city.

Helene placed her hand atop Josh's showing a small smile, barely noticeable, but genuine in any way. Even if Josh's hand was grimy from sweat and the neoprene gloves had been caked with mud and grime, she didn't mind, she just felt safer with him around.

"Okay, nothing out of the ordinary, let's go kids." Ricky called out from McHale's desk.

On cue after hearing Ricky's voice, Josh let go of Helene's shoulder, not wanting to hear more of Ricky's almost intolerant teasing on Josh making out with Helene. Also since her spit might have contained the virus, he knew it would only get him infected if he were to make out with her.

"Though a 'thank you' kiss after we get outta here doesn't sound bad…" Josh thought, stiffening a snicker.

The survivors exited the office of Roger McHale and were back in the lobby leading to the remaining two offices.

"Hey, I just remembered something." Josh spoke up.

"What's that kid?" Ricky asked.

"Helene's mother mentioned in her diary about some sort of directors of some project." Josh explained. "I just got this feeling since she said something about the third director leaving before any of this, and since there's three offices here…"

"What're you…" Ricky looked at the doors. He suddenly got the idea of what Josh was talking about. "You mean these three guys are those directors?"

"Yea and it says this one guy, whose name is too damn hard to remember, seems to be the head of this place." Josh explained more clearly.

Ricky suddenly slapped Josh gently on the back and pumped a fist. "God dammit kid! You just lead us to a gold mine!" He hollered out of glee, making Josh raise and eyebrow out of surprise and the from the manner Ricky acted.

"If this director's the head of this facility, he's gotta have some good info on everything we need!" Ricky said and hurriedly approached the middle door. He pushed down on the handle to find that it was unlocked, which got his hopes up even more. But he still kept in mind that the former owner of the office might be inside, so he readied his SOCOM. Once again he swung the door open and trained his SOCOM inside, but found nothing but a room devoid of anything live or dead.

The survivors entered the office, which seemed better furnished compared to Roger McHale's. To the right besides the wall was a large bookcase with hundreds of different kinds of books placed within in and were surely something Josh could never understand. Opposite of that was a black leather couch and on the same side was a locker similar to McHale's and at the end of the small room was a large desk, also topped with a computer module.

Ricky walked ahead and went behind the desk and instantly opened one of the desk's shelves. Josh and Helene walked up too and watched as Ricky looked through many different papers, quickly reading a bit of their texts before discarding them on the floor. Josh decided they'd get out much faster if he'd help, so he went behind the desk and reached out for a mass of documents from the first shelve. Helene watched as the two quickly scanned through the documents, hopefully finding something important on the T-virus and maybe something even better. As Helene looked on, her hand touched the name plate in the table. Taking a look at the plate, she saw the name Igor Stepanovitch inscribed on it. A name as strange as that instantly told her that the man was not an American.

"Bah, these aren't anything." Ricky grumbled tossing another handful of documents on the floor.

"Well, we still have two shelves to go." Josh replied and opened the next shelf, finding nothing but a manila folder inside it.

"What's this?" Ricky wondered taking the folder, which unexpectedly also bore the Umbrella insignia on it. He opened the folder and pulled out a few papers from within it. "What the hell?" He suddenly looked as if all the color in his face was drained out.

This elicited confused and fearful expressions from Josh and Helene.

"Uh…Ricky?" Josh spoke with a slight shiver, "What is it that's in that folder…"

"Take a look at this yourself…" Ricky replied and showed him the contents.

"What in the…" Josh's eyes widened from shock upon seeing the contents.

Attached to the papers with paperclips were photographs of a nude girl, possibly a teenager, floating inside what looked like a glass tube filled with a transparent, water-like liquid. The next image made him feel even more frightened. It was the same girl in the same tube, but now she seemed less human. Her skin was showing strange marks of blue and he fingers appeared as if they were deforming with large bulbs where the finger tips used to be. The next picture was possibly the most horrifying… The girl was then fully covered in blue skin and what used to be her fingers were now long, extremely grotesque claws. The only feature that could tell this thing was once a human was the shape of its body and the long black or dark brown hair that remained the same on her head.

"Oh my God…" Josh whispered, having seen possibly the most horrifying thing in his life.

Also printed onto the first paper in bold letter was a name… A name that didn't seem anywhere near as terrifying as the abomination in the tube, but he swore it was going to haunt him for a long time. The name was _Genome_…

-

A/N: Whew. Hello again. Sorry that I kind of broke my promise on finishing this story BEFORE 2007. I cut down on WoW, but now since school's started and it's my big chance to get into a good high school. I'll still continued whenever possible and since my English has become more fruitful than ever, it only speeds up the writing. So now we finally get some light on this 'Genome' thing. Interested? Well, look forward to the next chapter, 'cause we're in for a long ride! See ya soon. The nightmare is far from over…


	22. Chapter 22: A Cure for the Plague

Chapter 22: Cure for the Plague

"Genome?"

The images of the creature Umbrella had dubbed 'Genome' was a terrifying sight indeed. The three Raccoon survivors had almost wished they hadn't opened the manila envelope which contained the information for the project which created the horrific monster. It made all three of them feel sick how the employees of Umbrella would dare to even think about such atrocities, as if they weren't anywhere human themselves…

"Who could do something like this?" Helene asked frightened, her left hand's fingers almost over her mouth.

"Seriously, I don't wanna know!" Josh shouted loudly. "Put that damn thing away before I won't even touch a Spider-man comic!" He demanded, worried that watching the monster anymore would make him fear anything monstrous.

Ricky hastily, but carefully slid the papers and photos regarding the creature back into the envelope and closed it. "Helene, could you carry this in your backpack?" Ricky asked.

"O-okay…" Helene stuttered, feeling dread of having to be close to a mere photo of the beast. She hesitantly turned around so that Ricky could open the backpack and slip the envelope inside for safekeeping.

"Well, don't you think that's enough evidence already?" Josh asked, doing his best not the think of the creature's features.

In response Ricky crossed his arms, "As much as that thing can scare the shit out of just about anyone, we still should look for more just in case." He replied. "We're going to need a lot of reports on these things since only the photos won't do a thing."

"True…" Josh figured since modern picture technology was advanced enough that people could create monster pictures in their own homes. The reports and information on the creatures and virus may have served a better purpose. "I suppose the jury would think of us as scammers with just pictures."

"Exactly and I for one don't wanna spend my first days in the slammer after this is over." Ricky bluntly replied, remembering what the prison his father was kept in numerous times was like. Also the 'don't drop the soap' rule made it clear that no sane man would ever want to go to jail, even if he broke the law for a living.

Just then the door to the office was opened and a person ran in, slamming the door forcefully shut behind him. This made the survivors jump in shock and terror, seeing as the clothing of the person was familiar. It was a Sweeper, but he didn't seem to pay much attention to the survivors as he had his MP5 trained at the door, the LAM's dot visible on the white painted wood.

Ricky and Josh in turn trained their M4A1 and MP5 at the Sweeper in case he would turn around and murder them and Helene. The Sweeper began to turn around, but seeing the two people training their weapons at him made the Sweeper drop his MP5 and place his hands atop his head.

"So, out for a little 'house-of-horror-cleanup'?" Ricky asked, keeping his rifle trained intently on the Sweeper, knowing they were surely better trained than him; they might accomplish turning the tables on him and the two teenagers.

The Sweeper in turn tried turning his head to the side, but the sight of weapons trained at him made him revert his stare back at Ricky and Josh. Ricky then approached the Sweeper, his aim never wavering. Letting go of the foregrip while keeping his hand on the handle, Ricky took hold of a small piece of fabric near the soldier's neck area and almost jammed his assault rifle barrel in the man's face.

"Are you with Umbrella!? What the hell are you doing here!?" Ricky asked threateningly tightening his hold on the soldier's uniform.

The Sweeper in turn replied with a sharp hush, the gas mask on his head deafening it a large amount. Ricky raised a brow in response. Normally he would never trust a full-time Umbrella employee, but he was feeling suspicious about the predicament. Was the Sweeper possibly warning him, or was he trying to throw him off guard? No doubt these Sweepers we're professionals in their job, so trusting him felt risky.

"Okay, what's with the 'hush-hush'?" Ricky asked, lowering his voice a little.

"Shut up moron!" The Sweeper hissed.

"And why should I shut up?" Ricky asked threateningly.

Suddenly the door budged with a rough slam on the other side of it. This startled Ricky and the teenagers, making Ricky loosen his grasp on the Sweeper's suit. Seeing Ricky preoccupied gave the Sweeper enough time to swiftly grab Ricky by the shoulder and slam his knee in the unsuspecting U.B.C.S grunt's crotch. Ricky yelled out in pure agony as he fell on his knees, both hands over his crotch and fell prostrated on the floor. The Sweeper then hastily grabbed his dropped MP5 and trained it at the incapacitated Ricky Wallace.

Josh in turn began tightening his finger on his MP5. But even if he had the Sweeper in his sights and the LAM pointed it the soldier's forehead, he couldn't bring himself to shoot. Now that he though about it, he never had shot anyone living in his entire life, being grown up in a good family.

When the Sweeper was about to pull the trigger, something slammed onto the door again, this time swinging the door open, forcefully striking the Sweeper and making him wobble out of balance. Where the Sweeper originally stood, was now replaced by another of the two-headed insects. Out of reaction, fearing for Ricky's well being, Josh opened fire upon the monster with his silenced MP5, getting his first feel of firing a fully-automatic weapon. At first it felt a little new to him, but he was able to null out most of the recoil with the firm plastic buttstock of the sub-machinegun.

The insect stepped backwards from the hail of hot lead, but the began its familiar retaliation of standing up on its hind limbs and rushing out, which seemed effective in scaring its victim to stun it. But the creature seemed to have been oblivious to the prostrated Ricky and in and unbelievable manner tripped over him, making it topple on the floor both faces forward.

With the monster incapacitated due to its blunder, Josh took the chance to aim at the monster's heads and began firing at it with the MP5. His sudden rush of adrenaline made him loose his trigger-control on the weapon and ended up emptying the whole clip of the gun. Fewer bullets would have been enough since both of the monster's heads were now formless masses of softened chitin and brain-matter and a massive puddle of its sickly green bodily fluids now stained the once spotless floor. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Josh was beginning to fish for his 9mm bullets, but then noticed a red spot on his chest…

The Sweeper was taking aim at Josh, aware that his MP5 was empty. He was given a task of exterminating anyone living within the facility and was going to do it no matter what, whether his target was an old man or just a child. But then a shot rang out of nowhere, making the Sweeper freeze in his tracks. The Sweeper's arms suddenly fell limp, dropping his MP5 and collapsed face forward on the floor with a fresh bullet hole unbeknownst to Josh and Helene in his eye.

"Not in this life bozo." Ricky growled angrily, dragging himself from under the insect monster's body. Smoke was rising from his SOCOM's barrel, indicating that he shot the Sweeper. "Well, there you have it, my first live human kill…" He thought looking down at the Sweeper.

Josh didn't feel like saying anything at all. Even though well aware that this was what soldiers were originally trained for; to kill. He couldn't believe he'd see anything like it at such a tender age. All those years his father was training him into a soldier, but deep down in his mind Josh was well aware of a soldier's duties. It was to kill anyone who opposed his country and its well being. He was being trained to kill by his own father, who had already killed a lot of people during the Gulf war when Josh was only eight years old. That time he looked up to his father as a great man who came back a hero of war, but in truth all he had done was kill people who were forced to fight the side the Americans were on. And hadn't he been taught how to kill, Josh wouldn't be alive at the very moment. Most of the time during this whole ordeal, Josh felt thankful to his father for teaching him this specialty, but seeing a living, breathing man fall from a bullet fired by another living man, it made him feel uneasy…

Helene watched in horror of seeing a man die in real life from a bullet that was fired by Ricky. Only times she had seen death in such manner was in war movies she had seen her father, brother and his brother's friends watching. But the sight of really seeing a living human kill one another was extremely hard to bear. It looked the same as it did in fiction, but the feel was very different…

Ricky set the safety of his SOCOM back on and turned to the door. But then he decided to search the Sweeper's body. He detached the clip on the dropped MP5 and found two additional clips on the soldier's utility belt. He presented them to Josh.

Josh without a word took the clips and also took the time to reload the once he had emptied onto the now beheaded insect mutant. After attaching the filled clip and pulling on the bolt, he showed with a nod that he was ready to move on. He however took one more look at Stepanovitch's desk before remembering something.

"Ya think this guy kept a key in this room?" Josh asked Ricky.

Ricky stopped in his tracks, remembering that they had only managed to search two shelves in Stepanovitch's desk and they hadn't even touched the locker. Aware of the man's high rank with Umbrella, he was sure to possess something of great importance. A set of keys to the facility, keycards for certain areas, information on the facility's layout? There were many possibilities.

"You might have a point there kid." Ricky replied. "Let's do some more searching before heading out." And with that Ricky went back to Stepanovitch's desk and opened another shelve.

"C'mon Helene, we'll check the locker." Josh said and walked towards Stepanovitch's locker, Helene following soon afterwards. "Let's see if it's 'skeletons in the closet' all over again." Josh quipped taking hold of the locker's doors and pulling them slowly open… He was thankful since this time a corpse didn't come falling onto him like in the previous office. He opened the doors to their widest, but what he saw inside the locker was very confusing to him.

On the back of the locker were pictures pinned onto the locker's inside's surface. The first picture was that of a man. He was bald and seemed to be somewhere around his forties and wore a pair of thick looking spectacles. He was clad in a typical lab coat. He stood in a calm position with his hands behind his back, with a cheesy smile on his face. The background seemed to be from around the facility, but Josh couldn't tell since all he saw behind the man was a metal table and what looked like refrigerators, probably used for housing chemicals, or probably test subjects. A second picture placed right in the middle showed the same man with two other people standing on both sides of him.

The one to the right of the bald spectacled researcher was undoubtedly Dr. Roger McHale, clad in a similar lab coat with an emotionless expression, seeming very glum compared to the bald man who had a similar toothy smile on his face. To the left stood a female researcher, also in same gear, only her lab coat was open, revealing a black t-shirt from under it along with a matching pair of black jeans. She seemed very curvaceous and had long black hair that reached down to her back, no doubt. Surprisingly, she seemed much, much younger than the two male researchers, probably in her twenties. However, her expression seemed very strange. She had a small smile on her lips, but just looking at her eyes brought out a strange feeling, as if staring into the eyes of someone evil. Then Josh thought as if the woman reminded him of someone he already knew.

"Black hair…" He thought, comparing the person in the photo to someone else. "Nah, couldn't be." He whispered.

"What is it?" Helene asked.

"It's nothing." Josh promptly replied. "This person in this photo just kinda reminded me of someone." He explained. "The last thing I'd need is her working for Umbrella…" Josh thought. "There's no way that's Mary…"

The third photo showed the same three researchers, along with a group of other Umbrella researcher clad in the familiar yellow and black outfits. Josh then wondered if the bald man was Igor Stepanovitch. He recognized McHale and was pretty sure he was one of the directors of the Genome program. The bald man, if he happened to be Stepanovitch meant he was the leading director and supervisor of the Genome program. Also remembering of what Helene's mother Misao Nayami had written in her diary, she mentioned the third director being a woman. That must have meant that the woman in the picture was the third director. Now that he thought of it, she did look like the bitchy type. Misao had mentioned the third director escaping the city before the outbreak had hit its peak, so it was only assumed that she had taken all of her most important documents and such with her.

"Oh my God…" Josh heard. It came from Helene, who was intently looking at the third photo. "Mother… father…" She muttered.

Josh took a closer look at the picture and found a familiar looking researcher with very dark brown hair. Just like the corpse he'd found on the upper level of the facility. No doubt, it was Helene's mother Misao, who had an emotionless look on her face, possibly since she had been forced to participate in the Genome program and Josh had read very frightening details on the project. No doubt it was all hell to her until the moments she was murdered. Looking around the photo a little more, Josh noticed a man also of Asian descent standing right next to Misao. He had the usual curved eyes of an Asian and had black mid-length hair. He bore the same kind of expression as his many other colleagues of the lower ranked researchers. He could only guess this man as Helene's father who they were now searching for, but secretly in vain.

Though almost fully certain on her father's death, Josh still had to keep Helene's spirits up or the whole ordeal would become even harder for her to bear. Josh looked back at Helene who still looked intently at the picture, and placed another comforting hand on her shoulder. Helene looked up at Josh, who now smiled at Helene. Helen smiled back at him for a brief moment, then went back looking at the photo.

Josh spotted one more photo pinned under the picture of the three project directors. This one was of Stepanovitch and another researcher, someone who Josh had no idea about. He was a man with shaggy brown hair and wore the same kind of lab coat with a blue dress-shirt under it with a tie and blue jeans. The two were standing in front of what seemed to be a bio-tank. Looking closer at the man, Josh could have sworn he'd seen him somewhere before just recently. He just wasn't sure how. Could Josh have seen his corpse or zombiefied form somewhere earlier? But it didn't matter to him now. He didn't want to remember anything about Raccoon City for the rest of his life, having suffered too much in this game of cat and mouse.

Josh then turned his attention to what looked like a silver briefcase in the bottom of the locker. Briefcase wasn't probably the right name of it since the whole outer layer seemed to be made of steel. Josh took hold of the case by its handle and pulled it out, finding it to be heavier than it looked.

"What do ya make of this?" Josh asked showing Helene the strange case.

Helene looked at the case in utter confusion. Neither did she understand what the meaning of the case was. She replied to Josh with a shrug.

"Hey Rick, you got any idea what this is?" Josh called out turning to Ricky who was busily looking through one of Stepanovitch's shelves. Ricky diverted his attention from the mass of papers in his hands to Josh.

"Where'd that come from?" He asked looking at the metal case.

"It was in the locker." Josh replied. "It's too heavy for your average briefcase, that's for sure."

"Maybe there's something inside. You should open it Josh." Helene said.

"I would if I could. This thing needs a code." Josh replied pointing at a set of four dial numbers between the handle of the case. "And it seems to need a key as well…" Upon closer inspection Josh found two circular keyholes.

"Just great…" Ricky grumbled. "And I presume Stepano-bitch has the code and the keys."

"No doubt." Josh agreed. "This thing's gotta have something valuable to him if it needs to be that well locked. And who knows where this guy is."

"If you ask me, I bet he's dead. Good riddance to that." Ricky blurted, fully aware of Stepanovitch's unstable mind. "At least if we happen to find his corpse we won't have to make him give us the keys…" He mumbled and continued looking through the papers. Suddenly something small slid from the mass of papers and hit the floor with a jingle. "Eh?" Ricky looked down and reached for the object. It turned out to be a key. "You said you had a need for a key kid?" Ricky asked, jingling the key in his fingers.

Josh looked at the key and replied, "That key won't work on this lock. Perhaps that's a facility key."

"Go figure." Ricky smirked and placed the key in one of his vest's pouches. "That thing needs a code right?"

"Yea, a four digit numerical one." Josh replied.

"Gotcha." Ricky continued looking through the papers more slowly than earlier. "…Four digits…" He repeated quietly eyeing through the papers.

"Let's give Ricky a hand Josh." Helene suggested and walked away from the spot she was standing on to Ricky and took out a handful of papers and documents. She went to the other side of the table opposite from Ricky and began looking through her load share.

Josh could only shrug and joined his two companions in looking through the papers. With three people doing it at the same time, it was progressing much faster. So far they had come across useless documents, schedules and memos. None regarding the T-virus with anything more than a few words, involving production and such. It took them around forty five minutes to look through the entire desk, finding nothing in the process.

"Well, that's the last of it." Ricky said, tossing the last bundle of papers over his shoulder. "No code, no evidence, no nothing…"

"A complete halt." Helene sighed.

Josh stood quiet, looking at the steel case. So far they had found neither a key nor a code to open it. Whatever Stepanovitch had stashed away into the case had to have great importance to either him or the company. They just had to get it opened somehow to use the contents as evidence against Umbrella. Josh continued thinking of the case and any idea on getting to its contents. He then looked back at the locker where he'd found the case, the one with various pictures about Stepanovitch, his workmates and the team working under him. Just then Josh came up with an idea. He walked back to the locker.

"What'cha up to kid?" Ricky asked.

Josh didn't reply, he only simply detached the first photo, the one of Stepanovitch. The picture came off very easily since it was attached with blu-tac. He turned the photo around and his hunch was right.

"Bingo." Josh said triumphantly, presenting the backside of the photo with the numbers: 4842 inscribed onto it in marker.

Ricky and Helene stared at Josh in amazement.

"How'd you figure to look there?" Ricky asked amazed.

"I figured Stepanovitch trusted only himself." Josh replied with a shrug. "Hell with the idea, at least now we've got some keys to keep going."

"Yea, and the very first stop will be that Synthesis Room." Ricky added. "We gotta get that cure for Helene."

"Definitely and since we already have the key." Josh nodded. "Sweet, that'll be one less problem for all of us."

"Ya hear that Helene, you're gonna be alright." Ricky said to Helene.

"Yes, thank you." Helene replied, though still seemingly quiet, she had to be relieved to have the T-virus finally purged from her system.

The survivors made their way out of the office of Dr. Igor Stepanovitch, now with Ricky carrying the steel case in addition to his SOCOM in his right hand. They made their way past the corpse in the lobby of the office room and the faceless corpse in the corridor. The room, originally reeking of blood, was now added with the smell of fresh barf due to the puddle of stomach contents vomited by Helene earlier. They then made their way to one of their recent made scenes of bloodshed. They even saw the remnants of Josh's once trusty shotgun on the floor near the dead body of a two-headed insect. The steel door they had found that came after the turn to the hazardous laboratory was their next stop. Ricky took the two keys from his utility vest and tried the one for the synthesis room, but the key didn't fit. Trying the second key in turn did work. Ricky however did not open the door.

"What's the hold up?" Josh asked.

"This must be the chemical storage room…" Ricky replied. "In my opinion at least, we should go find those instructions McHale said were in the synthesis room."

Josh raised a brow, but then he remembered the note they found on McHale's corpse. It would have been a waste of time entering the chemical storage room without knowing what they needed to prepare the T-virus vaccine.

"Okay then, let's go find the instructions first." Josh agreed with a firm nod. "I want that virus out of Helene as soon as possible."

Helene looked back at Josh. Though not showing, deep down she wanted to smile upon him for his great concerns for her wellbeing. She didn't know how at the moment, but when they escaped, she owed Josh something big. Her first priority after escaping the city was to decide what it was going to be.

The survivors then tread back to the first locked door they'd found in the sector. This time the tagged key did work and the door of the synthesis room opened. Unfortunately before Ricky could even get much of the door open, a wiry, rotting arm shot out and grabbed him by his elbow. The U.B.C.S grunt shouted from surprise as he tried pulling his arm free.

Josh reacted by grabbing his crowbar from his belt and using its dull side to smash the hand of the zombie's arm, breaking its fingers and allowing Ricky to pull his arm free, first drawing his SOCOM before kicking the door wide open with a forceful thrust kick. The steel door's weight and the added acceleration from Ricky's kick made the zombie behind it topple, exposing itself as a low-ranking Umbrella researcher since it was clad in the familiar yellow jacket and black pants. Without a second thought, Ricky put the undead monster down with a single shot through its forehead, almost making its head burst.

"Close one." Ricky remarked the struggle. "Thanks kid." He said glancing at Josh before proceeding into the room, only to meet another grueling sight.

Lying on the floor in the middle of the synthesis room was a dead body, another researcher whose body had been almost completely devoured, his chest and stomach torn open with most of the organs missing added with broken bloodied bones. He neck was also torn open and his limbs had almost been stripped to the bone. Accompanying the corpse was another zombie of a researcher, clad in a similar uniform, only having a skirt instead of pants, the only thing indicating this zombie was once a human woman.

"Sorry, no desert for you." Josh quipped and trained his MP-5 at the zombie and fired a 3-shot burst, decimating the zombie's face and making fall on top of the corpse, its head making a hideous 'crack' when coming in contact with the floor.

With the current threat eliminated, the survivors entered the synthesis room, which greatly reeked of blood and bile. It had the familiar white coloration on the floor and walls. The room had probably been completely sterile earlier, having cabinets and shelves lined with different tubes of unknown synthesized creations. This got Josh thinking if some of them were samples of the virus. Also, were they capable of creating the vaccine even with the instructions mentioned by McHale? They may have had the instructions, they still knew next to nothing about chemistry…

"Man, what is all this crap?" Josh wondered aloud, looking into a cabinet which held samples of what appeared to be blood.

"Synthesis materials of course." Ricky replied. "I'm no chemistry whizz, but even I could figure that out." He added.

"Well, do you have any idea if we can even make the vaccine?" Josh asked. "We're trying to make something to save people, not something to make them grow four arms or something."

Helene once again felt frightened. What if Josh and Ricky really couldn't create the vaccine? Maybe she was going to die. Nothing was going to save her then. Not even the offer of a painless death could make her feel any better. She would have had her whole life to live, hadn't the outbreak happened… She just wasn't ready. Though feeling her stomach turn, she couldn't go loosing her sanity now.

Ricky took a look at a large machine, though now sure what it truly was, it must have been used in the synthesis procedure. Next to it was a medical table with a plastic case, similar to a briefcase, only fitted with foam plastic and held what looked like a pistol, but instead of a barrel, it had a thin hole in the tip and had an indentation where something long was made to be placed. He then remembered the similar case his unit had with them which held the T-virus vaccines they were supplied with before the start of the mission. He remembered it also containing a state of the art gadget called a jet injector. Also resting in the case were three Umbrella-brand vials that contained a purplish-red liquid. In fascination, he took one of the vials and examined it thoroughly.

"We're in luck kids." Ricky called out.

"What?" Josh asked. "What 'cha got there?" Josh asked again looking at the glass vial in Ricky's hand.

"The T-virus vaccine." Ricky promptly replied, eliciting a raised brow from Josh and unbeknownst to both of them, a gasp from Helene.

"You serious?!" Josh asked bewildered eyeing the vial.

"Yea," Ricky assured with a firm nod. "Haven't I mentioned my unit being supplied with these things before the start of our mission?"

"You bastard!" Josh snapped, but then playfully punched Ricky in the left arm. "You never told us that and you still got our hopes up!" Josh spoke with pure bliss. "I love ya man."

"Thank you God…" Helene whispered, bringing her hand up to her heart and sighing in relief.

"But what about syringes?" Josh asked suddenly.

Ricky turned around to take the jet injector from the carrying case for the vaccines and presented it to Josh. "Voilá! An Umbrella-brand jet injector as they like to call this thing." Ricky explained. "It works just like a syringe. Just attach the tip, load it with the vaccine, pressurize it, press it against the patient's skin and pull the trigger. Simple as that." Ricky spoke proudly.

"Well I'll be…" Josh felt speechless. "Such a shame those bitches put their money on creating killing machines instead of an instant-injection cure for cancer." He quipped.

"Umm, could we inject me now, please?" Helene asked walking up to Josh and Ricky.

"Sure thing, you can then stop worrying about it." Ricky replied. "Just wait a sec as I reload this, if I remember how to…" Ricky said as he scratched the side of his head.

"What?!" Josh and Helene cried in almost unison, Josh also taking a threatening step towards Ricky.

Ricky quickly brought up his hand in defence. "Kidding, kidding." He hurriedly said, stiffening a snicker.

"Well don't kid and just reload it dammit!" Josh shouted angrily.

"Geez, tough crowd…" Ricky mumbled as he turned around and pulled back on the vaccine compartment of the jet injector. He then placed the vaccine vial inside it, checking if he put it in the right way and pushed the back of the injector to lock it. He then looked and found a box of tips for the injector. He put the injector down for a moment to open the small cardboard box to produce a tip for the injector and pressed it onto the injector. The tip was in fact a set of short subs which fired the vaccine through the skin and into the vein of the patient, just like he'd been taught at briefing. He last pulled on a stub on the bottom of the injector's grip, which seemed to put some strain on his hand. "Okay, locked and loaded and ready for vaccination." Ricky finally called, presenting the jet injector.

"Though that thing looks less painful than an actually syringe, watching you prepare it kind of creeped me out…" Josh replied, rubbing his upper arms, feeling slightly cold due to the fact of wearing only a t-shirt to cover his upper body.

"Want me to give it or should you give it Josh?" Ricky asked, snickering at his words.

Josh looked at Ricky with a frown and said, "Just give Helene that damn vaccine so we can continue on already!" He said extremely demandingly.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood dammit." Ricky replied with a shrug. "Okay Helene, you have to roll back a sleeve since I have to inject it through your elbow joint." Ricky told Helene.

Helene did as Ricky told her first supporting her Steyr rifle against the wall and rolling back the left sleeve of her red sweater, exposing a frail arm. She held out her arm calmly, knowing that the vaccine will cure her infection of the T-virus.

"You sure that's the vaccine?" Josh asked as a precaution.

"Dammit kid, I know what I'm doing." Ricky retorted. "Okay Helene, this will sting a little…" Ricky warned, taking a hold of Helene's forearm and pressing the jet injector's tip on Helene's elbow joint.

Helene could feel the small stubs pricking at her skin, bracing herself for the aforementioned sting. Just then her skin began it feel tingly below the injector and suddenly a hiss of hydraulic gas emanated from the injector itself. Helene could feel a strong stinging sensation on her elbow joint, gritting her teeth together as the feeling grew stronger. Josh could clearly see Helene was in a small state of discomfort, so he held her right hand. He could also make out the stub on the bottom of the injector's grip slowly sink back into the grip, indicating that it was pushing in gas to the vaccine and shot it through Helene's skin. When the stub finally sunk in completely, the hiss of the gas stopped and the stinging on Helene's arm went away.

"There ya go Helene." Ricky said, detaching the tip of the jet injector and dropping it on the floor.

Helene suddenly felt her body go stiff and began to feel cold for a few seconds until she felt normal again. She rolled the sleeve of her left arm down and picking up her rifle.

"How're you feeling?" Josh asked with concern.

"At first it hurt a little, then I felt stiff and cold, but now I feel fine." Helene replied assuring.

"That's good." Ricky replied with a smile. He placed the injector in the case with the two last vaccines and shut the case, also pocketing the box of tips. "We better take these for evidence and in case we need them."

"All the better to be careful." Josh added. "So, it looks like we've cleared this area." He said with a shrug.

"Got that right." Rick replied. "And what did we find? Some good evidence." He took the case containing the anti-viruses and the injector off the table and took his SOCOM from the table. "We might as well go on."

With their quest to find the vaccine for the T-virus over, their next target was the code for the elevator so they could access the lower level of the facility. They left the synthesis room and headed out of the sector with no difficulties. They arrived back at the circular room which served as the pillar of the facility. Nothing had changed thankfully and there was nothing in sight. It was logical since the zombies couldn't possibly escape through the steel doors.

"Now we've got three choices, so any idea which we should start with?" Josh asked looking first to the right and then to the left.

"It doesn't matter, let's just take right." Ricky suggested and went to the right side door, Josh and Helene following in tow.

"Ricky, doesn't it make it hard for you to carry that case and fight at the same time?" Helene asked all of a sudden.

Ricky looked back at Helene and noticed that each time he could approach a door cautiously he'd have to keep putting the case down since he needed both hands to open the door and use his handgun at the same time in case there was something threatening behind the door. He then held the case out towards Helene.

"You carry it." Ricky said. "Don't let go of this case except if you have to fight." He said semi-sternly.

"Don't worry, you can count on me." Helene nodded and took the case. It caused no discomfort for either arm since her Steyr AUG was a very lightweight rifle, having a polymer hull to reduce weight.

Ricky now took hold of the steel door's handle and once again readied to fire with his SOCOM. He pulled the door open and trained his gun in, but all that he saw was another door around ten feet away. He put the SOCOM's safety back on and walked in with Josh and Helene following. Ricky took hold of the handle for the next door, but this one didn't budge and there was no keyhole either.

"Swell, looks like we ain't getting here anytime soon…" Ricky grumbled.

Josh in turn noticed what looked like a card reader on the side of the door.

"Looks like we'll need a cardkey to go there." Josh remarked.

"By the way, anyone remember what the map said about this sector?" Ricky suddenly asked. "I mean damn, am I getting tired or am I just thoughtless?"

"Maybe both." Josh replied with a smirk. "Anyway, let's go see what there really is back there."

The group went back to the lobby and over to the map. Taking a look at the map, they retraced which sector they were in first and then traced what the sector they were planning on entering was. The sector was marked on the map as a wide blank space with the word 'Hangar' written on it.

"Well shit," Josh spoke. "They even have their own hangar." He looked up at Ricky. "That means we can escape after we're done finding evidence."

"And if we find a cardkey." Ricky added. "If we don't find a cardkey or can't progress anywhere at some point, we've got no choice but to go back aboveground." He said sternly.

"Just out of opinion, I don't feel like going back up there man." Josh replied bringing up his hands in front of him. He knew well what kind of chaotic state Raccoon City was in and it was probably getting worse every minute with fires spreading and the undead walking everywhere, looking for any living humans left to feed upon.

"We won't have a choice if we don't find the cardkey, so just suck it up kid." Ricky replied. "Now let me see…" He went back to looking at the map. He traced his finger down to the next sector opposite of the one they had investigated at first. The sector was titled 'Experimentation'. "Alright, we're going to the next sector."

"Which one?" Helene asked.

Ricky pointed at the Experimentation sector. "There, opposite of where we came."

Josh looked at the sector name with unease and then looked back at Ricky.

"Are you sure we should?" Josh asked uneasily. "…'Cuz that name doesn't sound too inviting…"

"We gotta check it out at least." Ricky replied. "Be sure to have that MP-5 ready kid, you might need it."

"Sure, always will." Josh replied and patted his trusty sub-machinegun. "If it comes down to something worse, I'll whip out this baby." Josh said referring to his S&W magnum revolver.

"Okay, with that cleared, let's go." Ricky said and turned to walk towards the door behind the support beam housing the elevator.

Josh and Helene followed a few steps back in tow. Helene looked at Josh, making Josh catch her gaze. They looked at each other, Helene in a questioning manner and Josh in an assuring manner. Josh nodded as if answering to a question Helene had said with her expression. Helene also nodded in response and the two teens continued following Ricky to the next sector's doors. Whatever awaited them inside it, they had to be ready.

"I'm sorry Helene, I don't really believe your dad made it out…" Josh thought. "But who knows, maybe God is smiling down on ya."

-

A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long to make and came a little shorter than usual. WoW has yet again taken my time and since the final exams and entrance exams are coming, I haven't had much time to do many free time hobbies for a while. I hope the next chapter will be up soon. Also a side project has been sidetracking me and another project in planning too has had my hands full. I have to cut down on one of the other projects, so maybe that'll speed this up. I hope this chapter was still good despite being a little shorter. And remember, the nightmare's far from over…


	23. Chapter 23: It's Relative

Chapter 23: It's Relative

Feeling the cold handle of the double steel doors with his fingers, Ricky pushed down onto it and slowly began pushing that door open with his handgun still clutched tightly in his right hand. Getting the door ajar enough, Ricky once again instinctively trained his gun inside in case something hostile or non-human was inside. So far he spotted none and opened the door even more ajar…

"Well I'll be…" He whispered in amazement of what he saw beyond the door.

Through the door the three survivors found a large, reinforced door that opened with a circular handle like in submarines or shelters. It reminded them all of a vault door, something used to keep people from entering, but seeing the handle made them get the idea this particular reinforced steel door was made to keep something inside…

"Well there's something you don't see every day." Josh quipped stepping closer to the door. "But are you sure we should be going in there? I mean, with a door like that…"

"Sorry kid," Ricky intervened, "But we gotta go through there if we're ever to find that code." He explained. simply. "And seeing as how large this hellhole is, it could be anywhere. Hell, maybe in a monster's belly for all we know."

"Real comforting man…" Josh replied dryly. "But if you so wanna go in there, let 'er rip. I'll just stand over here and…" Josh said taking a few steps to the left and trained his MP5 at the reinforced door.

"Gotcha. You cover me." Ricky said understandingly. "Helene, you take cover in the lobby just in case."

"Right." Helene quickly said and went out into the circular lobby.

"You ready kid?" Ricky asked in precaution.

"Locked and loaded." Josh replied with a nod. "Go for it." He boasted and then took a firm hold onto his sub-machinegun.

Though questioning himself, Ricky took hold of the door's circular handle. He began to try and turning it, but the handle felt really tight as he tried. He took an even firmer grip and even bent his body a bit to the right and an irritating screech of steel against steel sounded immediately. The turning became much easier, seeing how much faster Ricky turned the handle after each twist of his arms. The turning soon felt very light, indicating the door was open. With a mighty heave, with raw strength Ricky was able to start pulling the door open.

Josh in turn stared intently at the enlarging gap between the door. He made sure his gun was on full-auto mode and that his LAM module was pointed straight at the gap. The gap grew wider and wide until Ricky managed to pull the door wide enough for a human to fit through. Thankfully nothing came rushing out. He still kept his aim towards the gap for a few extra seconds before finally placing the safety back on and putting the gun down.

"All clear." He called out to both Ricky and Helene who entered the lobby after hearing this.

"I hope you kids are ready, 'cuz I got a feeling it's not gonna be pretty." Ricky said as he drew his SOCOM and set the safety off.

"Way to state the obvious private." Josh retorted. What was there to expect. The sector was used for B.O.W experimentation, so there was a very good reason as to why it was shut with a reinforced steel door that could stop practically anything from breaking both in or out… at least it was supposed to normally.

The three survivors went through the large reinforced door and came to a grim looking lobby that reminded them the inside of a ship or submarine. The walls and roof were topped with painted steel and even the door leading out of the lobby was one with a valve handle. Josh had to hand it to Umbrella for keeping their experiments in check, but seeming to lack the skills on keeping the core of the experiments locked up. The T-virus was the start of all their bio-weapons without a doubt and therefore was the biggest threat of Umbrella for having the power to use the virus to harm people.

"And by God I'm gonna kill them all if I have to…" Josh thought while feeling sick to his stomach about Umbrella's already current atrocities.

The time he had spent trapped in Raccoon City may have strengthened his nerves and improved his skills in combat, both melee and firearms, but it also seemed to have begun awakening his killer instincts, one of humankinds' most primordial instincts, which nowadays was most common in animals. But a human being was no different from any animal species. Humans originally had to be aggressive in order to survive the steps of evolution and yet they still retained this trait. Now this trait was only found in the most ruthless individuals in the world. Josh had heard of these kinds of individuals several times, like the soldiers of Japan and Finland during the Second World War he loved reading about and an infamous criminal currently on the loose in America. Jake Cavanaugh was his name. Josh despised these kinds of individuals who killed and killed all their life also with no feeling of remorse. He was never to stoop so low as a murderer, but given his current predicament, Josh had to continue killing in order to survive and continue on with his life with his family and friends. And maybe one day he'd meet a special someone…

Josh could only mentally laugh at himself for thinking such inappropriate thoughts right now. "Special someone huh?" He asked himself. He then found himself peeking over to Helene, who was now holding onto her rifle and the case containing the anti-virus. "…Well, maybe…"

"Okay kids, stand back…" Ricky suddenly warned as he tread closer to the door. Once again he took a firm grip on the door's handle and with a mighty tug, he got it to turn. Once the handle became loose enough, Ricky pulled back onto the steel door, nothing coming at him thankfully. The only thing that awaited him behind the door was once again a scene of gore.

Though slowly getting accustomed to the sight of mutilated, decapitated and marred corpses, the survivors couldn't help but wince and shiver from the bloody scene that had taken place. Beyond the door came a hall that immediately turned left, but slumped next to the wall was yet another corpse of a researcher. There were clear signs of the particular individual for having a large set of gashes on the torso, with the researcher's hand still trying to cover the wound, but in vain. There was also a security guard prostrated just in front of the door, also filled with gashes all around, and what looked like pieces of intestines sticking out from under his body…

"Ugh…" Helene groaned turning away from the sight. "Gross…"

"I suppose there's no mistaking what did this huh?" Josh asked, glancing at Ricky.

"No doubt." Ricky replied. "Must've been either our reptilian or skinless 'friends' from before." He added sounding very sarcastic as possible on the world 'friends'. "Since this the testing chamber, there's gotta be a few of those things around here."

"Gee, you think?" Josh asked sarcastically, still looking down at the two corpses. "Ya think you should be walking with something more bulkier?" Josh asked.

"Already am." Ricky replied. Josh looked up and saw Ricky wielding his M4A1 once again, his arsenal's most powerful weapon thanks to its rapid fire and accuracy. Also Josh just then remembered that since the M4 was basically a carbine version of the M16A2, it was fit for tight areas such as corridors. The same could have been said about the MP-5 Josh carried himself, but the model he was wielding had a full plastic butt stock. "I'll lead, Josh you in turn cover the rear."

"Okay, Helene, you stay between us no matter what. Okay?" Josh said to Helene.

Helene looked at Josh uneasily, also adjusting her hold on the case carrying the anti-virus samples. Josh in turn smirked confidently and sad,

"You're safe with us."

"Okay." Helene nodded and went past Josh.

Josh then checked up his MP-5 before taking the rear guard's job. He had to stay wary and also take note of anything that happened in the front. Since they were in a testing sector zombies were the least of their worries. The testing sector might have contained the most dangerous monsters they had encountered thus far, but there was also a chance that something new might have been awaiting them deep within.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Josh thought as he followed Helene and Ricky closely.

The trio of survivors went down the corridor which then turned right. They unexpectedly found a dead reptilian creature lying on the floor on its back with several bullet holes on its chest. Josh instantly recognized it from the profiles as one of the three Hunter species. The corridor continued for around five meters before it finally ended into a rectangular shaped room. There they found a second Hunter corpse, this one having lost its head with blood having burst out from its neck, coloring the floor red around it. What they saw next was unlike anything an everyday normal person might never see in his or her entire life time…

"If Raul saw this, he'd surely say something about Quake…" Josh thought, referring to his friend Raul's computer game Quake, a game that seemed like a simulation of a monster outbreak, much like what Josh himself was experiencing.

Before them through a window fitted steel wall was what looked like an actual arena. It had a circular shape from what they could tell from the distance.

"Well I'll be." Ricky whispered stepping up to the window. He could make out all sorts of stains of different origins on the arena's steel floor and walls, mostly dried blood. He could make out what looked like acid stains, or probably green blood like what the insect monsters carried.

"Yea, a real arena of all things." Josh replied. "Bread and circuses for Umbrella huh?" He asked jokingly.

"Looks like it kid." Ricky replied. "This one's seen its share of bloodshed for sure." Ricky added referring to the various stains that littered the circular arena.

Just then a steel door inside the arena opened up. All three survivors looked intently on who or what might be coming in. Just then they heard even through the reinforced glass heavy footsteps.

"Shit! Not another big, dark and ugly!" Josh cussed and ducked down, followed quickly by Helene and then Ricky, but he continued peeking through the window.

Ricky watched on to see what kind of creature was coming inside. He held up his as much sideways as possible to show so little of his face as possible while being able to see inside the arena. The footsteps grew louder by each passing second before a large entity finally showed itself.

"Oh my god…" Ricky mumbled at the sight.

Josh finally ushered enough courage to peek out the window. His eyes widened upon seeing that creature inside the arena.

Walking slowly and with heavy footsteps was a creature unlike anything he'd seen earlier. It was around the same size as Nemesis, but lacked most of the hideous features. This monster looked like a gigantic, bald human with grayish skin and judging by its size it must have packed massive muscles. Much like Nemesis, it was clad in clothing consisting of a large trench coat, this one being dark green in coloration, matching gloves and large, black boots. The monster didn't seem to notice the two survivors staring at it in awe. It just stared forward with an emotionless gaze.

"What the hell is that?!" Josh asked bewildered.

"You got me kid. I've never seen something like that." Ricky replied more calmly. "But whatever it is, it must pack some punch…

-

In a room somewhere within the facility, an Umbrella researcher busily typed away on a computer module. He hurriedly typed in different commands for something, his eyes doing their best to keep their focus.

"So you sure that thing will keep your little creations at bay?" Asked another person in the same room.

The man who busily typed on the computer didn't look up, but still replied, "They're not my creations. They're the sickos' property." He said sternly.

"Whatever," said the other man. "I'm just asking 'cuz dealing with those lizards isn't something even we professionals would call easy."

"Some professionals you U.B.C.S really are." The researcher scoffed. "You say you had a decent platoon of soldiers and only you made it alive Mr. Littman."

"Meh, it's cool with me." The man identified as Harris replied with a shrug as he lit a cigarette with a lighter. "Just be glad I got here to get you and that thing you spoke of outta here."

"Indeed it is." The researcher said before pressing the Enter-key. He finally stood up and revealed to be of Asian descent with curved eyes and had black mid-length that reached down to his neck. He was clad in a male Umbrella researcher's uniform "They already got my wife and children, I won't die here without avenging them and making these bastards pay." The researcher said furiously.

"Whatever ya say Dr. N." The U.B.C.S officer Harris said while scratching the back of his short dark brown hair. Also present on him was thick stubble and what looked like a slash mark on his right cheek. He was clad in the familiar olive green U.B.C.S uniform with khaki pants, knee pads, combat boots, a utility vest and black neoprene gloves. On his back was strapped a SPAS-12 shotgun and in his right hand he held the basic U.B.C.S firearm Sig PRO. "I'll get you out along with that thing."

"Good." The researcher nodded firmly. "The Tyrant should be descending to the lower level now. We better get a move on." The researcher began hastily walking towards a door right of him, but he suddenly heard the click of a gun's safety going off…

-

A sudden mechanical hymn began to emanate from out of nowhere. The three survivors looked around cautiously while trying to stay hidden from the giant monster in side the arena. The floor under them felt like it was lightly trembling, as if something was going on below them. Just then a sharp hiss of hydraulics emanated from inside the arena and an even louder hum sounded afterwards. What Ricky could tell, the arena floor began to slowly sink, but it then picked up speed and the monster was out of sight. He then stood up and looked inside the arena, seeing a large circular whole where the floor used to be.

"What was that all about?" Josh asked looking down in the wide hole.

"Looks like this thing works as some sort of elevator too." Ricky replied with a shrug. "… But who the hell made it move?"

Just then a single shot rang out from within the sector, startling the survivors. They looked around cautiously the small corridor for anything suspicious.

"Who could that be?" Ricky wondered.

"I bet it's those Sweepers taking out some Umbrella jerk-off." Josh muttered.

Just then they heard another sound of a door opening and slamming shut. They then heard rapid footsteps coming from the right turn in the room. A man in a green and black uniform came running through the hall and after taking only a glimpse at the survivors, turned to where they had originally arrived from. The three survivors could easily make out a symbol on the man's back; the Umbrella symbol with a shield in its center and two swords positioned into a cross, the symbol of the U.B.C.S!

"Hey, buddy! Wait up!" Ricky called out and gave chase to the man. But just as he had reached the left turn which lead out of the facility, three shots rang out, leaving dents on the wall with Ricky only a few feet away form harm's way. "Whoa!" He gasped and nearly lost his balance trying to avoid the bullets.

"Ricky!" Josh yelled running to the soldier's aid. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yea, but that guy's not." Ricky grunted looking at the three dents on the wall caused by the bullets.

"He was from the U.B.C.S right?" Josh asked, having clearly seen the familiar logo on the man's back.

"Definitely," Ricky agreed. "But what was that for?!" He asked bewildered. "That guy almost got me killed!"

Josh's eyes widened for a second. Why would one of Ricky's own comrades be shooting at him of all things? Had the man gone mental and couldn't tell the difference between human or monster anymore? Or could he have had an actual reason?

"Well whatever's up with him, we better watch out. Seeing that gun on him, he must be well armed." Josh figured, knowing the U.B.C.S may have been expendable to the company; they all still had their share of battle experience and could endanger his and his two fellow survivors' lives.

"Well called kiddo." Ricky replied. "Let's steer away from that dude and carry on with out own business." He added, but deep down had a feeling they may have a run-in with the U.B.C.S soldier in the future and had to be wary and ready to shoot to kill for the sake of Josh and Helene's safety.

"Is everything alright back there?!" Helene called out.

"Yea, we're okay. Be right there." Josh called back with assurance.

The two survivors walked back into the rectangular room.

"What happened?" Helene asked with concern.

"Some nut-job almost put a bullet through my skull." Ricky replied bluntly.

"So we better be careful if we find another green clad guy who's not Ricky." Josh added.

"But we better move on now if we're ever gonna get outta here before Christmas." Ricky said. "Let's go see what's in there where he came from."

The three survivors walked into the corridor where the mysterious assailant had come from. Only around six meters away was a door. Ricky this time didn't take precautionary measures and simply pulled the door open.

Through the door the three survivors stepped into a small room. It had the same kind of floor as outside in the corridor, but the walls were made a depressing gray color. The room had long tables mounted onto the walls with very sophisticated computer modules built into them. The room seemed to have survived the many skirmishes since no chairs were turned over, there were no zombies and no blood… But what was lying on its back was a human corpse… or was it? It appeared to be a male Umbrella researcher. He had his hand over what appeared to be a wound on his chest, but his face couldn't be seen. Just then the assumed corpse let out a pained groan, making Josh train his MP-5 at it, but instantly held himself back from firing as the corpse turned it face towards them… It was no corpse, it was a living human!

"Dear God!" Josh gasped.

"You alright buddy?" Ricky asked rushing to the man's aid.

The man in pain opened his eyes once hearing Ricky's words. That's when all three of the survivors could make out he had curved eyes, surely of Asian descent. Just then Helene's eyes went wide in horror and her mouth practically dropped open. In an instant she lost her hold on her Steyr and the anti-virus case.

"O-tou-san!!!" Helene yelled in a foreign language, most definitely Japanese. She rushed over to the man and supported his head on her lap. "O-tou-san, daijoubu?!" Helene spoke to the man, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Oh no…" Josh thought. "It's him. That's Helene's father…" Josh began to feel like crying himself. Seeing his friend holding her father like that, on the verge of tears was something he wasn't prepared for at all. "He is alive… for now…"

Ricky in turn knelt beside Helene's father and slowly removed his hand from over the wound. The wound had stained the man's jacket around it and appeared very deep. The size of the wound easily indicated that it was a fresh bullet wound. The wound was going right between his lungs and had just about pierced the lower part of the heart. No first-aid could cure such an injury. Ricky shook his head sadly. No matter what he could do, Helene's father was going to die any second.

"H-Hikaru…" The man groaned in pain. The man lifted his clean hand up and touched Helene's face, while Helene took hold of it tightly.

Josh could only look down on the floor in sorrow. He had kept telling Helene that they will find her father, but in truth he himself along with Ricky probably, knew that he was surely dead. But no, he was still alive but wasn't going to be much longer. He then figured who was the culprit. The U.B.C.S troop who had ran past them and tried shooting at Ricky did this. But why?

"That son of a bitch…" Josh growled silently while his left hand tightened into a fist.

Helene began to sob uncontrollably. The one member of her family she'd wished she could find alive and escape with, she finally had found him. But in vain. His father now lied with his head on her lap, drawing his last breaths. She continued to hold onto her father's hand tightly, wanting to keep him in the world of the living, but it too was in vain.

"Mr. Nayami." Ricky spoke up. "Who did this?" He asked.

Helene's father drew in a deep, painful breath before he managed to speak. "Harris…" He gasped. "He's… he's after it…"

"After what?" Ricky asked.

"T-the G-genome embryo." Helene's father gasped. "It-it was Stepanovitch's… ultimate project…"

"(Father, don't talk…)" Helene spoke in Japanese.

"I must…" Helene's father groaned in pain. "If Umbrella gets hold of the embryo…"

"Won't happen sir." Ricky replied assuring. "We'll get that bastard and take that thing back. We'll use it to destroy Umbrella. Don't worry sir." Ricky added with his fisted hand against his chest.

"H-Harris took my code to… to the elevator. It is five…eight-nine-nine. You must pursue him to the lower l-level." Helene's father coughed up blood. "There… Hunters… everywhere…" His breathing began to weaken. "I s-sent the T-t-tyrant down there, but… but it's un-u-n-stable…be careful… please…" He plead. He looked up towards her daughter's face and with his last breath spoke: "Hikaru… aish-shiteru…" He coughed and his head suddenly fell completely limp on Helene's lap and his hand also fell limp. Jonouchi Nayami, the father of Helene Nayami, was dead…

Helene suddenly broke out crying. It was heartbreaking not just for her, but also for Josh and Ricky. Ricky closed his eyes and stood up, turning his back to the deceased Umbrella researcher and his only daughter. Josh in turn couldn't hold his tears back anymore. He sobbed softly while wiping any tears that came out onto his forearm. But it wasn't as heartbreaking to anyone else than Helene. She had lost her brother, mother and now her father to the madness of Umbrella. Helene cried so much that it was unbearable to watch.

"So this is how they like it…" Josh growled.

Ricky heard Josh and turned his attention to him. "Josh?"

Josh's teeth gritted together tightly. "They do this on purpose… They create tools for killing and for what? Money! Fucking money from killing people! That's god damn cool to them!" Josh yelled in fury. "They think that sacrificing thousands of lives to simply get fucking money in their pockets is no big deal! They think that human lives are not worth shit! Those stupid motherfuckers! I swear to God I'm gonna fucking kill all of them with my bare hands if I have to!!!" Josh yelled in such fury he could have been considered insane.

Josh suddenly got slapped hard on his right cheek, making him wince from pain as he held his gloved hand over the red, stinging area. And looked up at an angry Ricky Wallace.

"Get a damn hold of yourself kid!" Ricky snapped. "You sound like you've gone crazy!"

"They're the crazy ones Ricky!" Josh replied sharply. "Just look at that!" Josh shouted as he forcefully pointed his arm towards the crying Helene and her father. "They're killing people just like that! You think they feel any remorse for their actions?! Well I can say that they fucking don't! I swear those higher-ups don't have any humanity left in them!" Josh began to pant from the intensity of his yelling.

"I know it's unbearable to look at kid, but you can't go saying something like that!" Ricky shouted back with taking a firm grip on Josh's shoulder. "You think you'll be any better if you just go up and kill a bunch of people just because you're mad at them?! Think about it! What would it make you if you become something like that?!" Ricky asked sharply.

Josh looked up at Ricky's frowning eyes. He was suddenly in shock of what horrible things he'd just said. True, all his life Josh was being trained into a soldier, a man of war whose job was to kill people of the opposing faction. But what he just yelled in his state of crazed fury, it began to strike fear into himself. If he were to be like that, a ruthless human killing machine, it would make him seen much less human than the Umbrella higher-ups or even common cold blooded killers. He would not be counted as a human, but rather a monster. A bloodthirsty beast, just like Umbrella's crazed creations.

"Good god, did I just say those things?!" Josh asked bewildered of himself.

Ricky answered with a slow nod.

"Aw man. Guess I really did loose it just now." Josh thought, now having his gaze pointed not at Ricky, but his own feet. "Aw geez…" He groaned.

"However, I can understand that you feel awful kid." Ricky spoke in a more softer tone. "But we have to bring these assholes to justice in a different way, right?" Ricky asked.

Josh looked back up at Ricky. At first he looked up at his friend with a sad expression, but afterwards his lips turned to smile at him. Then with a nod, Josh's confident grin came back.

"Hell yea man!" He replied with new confidence. "So I say we get down there, find that asshole who did this, take back the embryo and get the hell outta here."

"Now that's the Josh I know." Ricky replied with a playful punch on Josh's shoulder. He then turned his attention to Helene, who was still mourning for the loss of her father, "Not as much as I can say about her…" He said mournfully.

Josh on the other hand bravely walked up to Helene. He looked down on her, sobbing so much that her eyes began to turn the skin around them red. Josh took a deep breath and thought of the right manner on how to speak to the wrecked, final living member of the Nayami family.

"Helene…" Josh began, though felt very unsure about himself. "I'm very sorry it came to this." He said mournfully. "I… I know this is excruciatingly hard for ya, but you have to fight on." Josh then had to swallow the lump forming in his throat, still feeling very unsure if he sounded respecting enough. "Your whole family surely wants you to live on. It will be hard to adjust to this, but… uh…" Josh now felt like mentally kicking himself. That was the worst thing he'd ever said when trying to comfort someone.

"Josh…" Helene finally spoke, her sobbing having finally stopped, but still held onto her dead father.

"And… I know you probably hate us both now. We really should've come here earlier and your father would still be with us and we could have stopped that dickhead…" Josh continued. "But, I want to honor your father's final request. We're gonna catch him and… I want to promise something else to him."

"What?" Helene silently asked, still not looking up at Josh.

"I promise him that I'll get ya to safety." Josh said, but it took great willpower for him to do so. "You deserve the best Helene. I'm getting you outta this hellhole one way or another."

Helene didn't respond. She finally laid her father down on the floor. She then put her hands together, kept her head lowered and closed her eyes, as if she was praying, which might have been the best explanation. A tradition in Japan Josh could only imagine.

Helene was about to finish her prayer, but then she heard something besides her. Opening her eyes, she saw Josh doing the exact same thing. Even if never knowing her father, Josh still paid his respects to him. It was very surprising, but then again what Helene had learned about Josh, he was very kind if he wanted to. Several times during the outbreak, he had comforted her to help her through upcoming ordeals. Josh appeared much more honorable than most boys she'd met, most of them being very mean and careless, while Josh seemed completely opposite. He was strong, he was smart, sharp and a good fighter, but also kind, nice and very caring.

"Amen." Josh said finishing his prayer, being a Christian unlike Helene, whose family stuck to their own cultural traditions. That's when Helene noticed something she hadn't seen before. Around Josh's neck hung a very thin, golden necklace with a cross hung on it.

"Josh?" Helene asked surprised towards Josh's actions.

"We can't go without paying our respects now can we?" Josh asked with a small smile on his face.

Helene still looked at Josh surprised, but finally after such a long time, smiled warmly. She shed one more tear and suddenly wrapped her arms around Josh. Josh in turn didn't feel surprised of this or ashamed. Instead he hugged her back and stroke her head gently.

"What'd ya say we get outta here?" Josh asked softly.

"Yea." Helene replied with a whisper.

The two teenagers broke up their hug and stood up. Helene looked down at his father for the final time.

"Gokigenyo, O-tou-san." She whispered and turned away from her father.

Ricky felt proud of what Josh did. Once again he saw how the boy cheered up Helene and seemed to have given her new strength to carry on fighting. Other than that, Josh seemed to have finally showed his true emotions towards Helene.

"Way to go kid. I'm proud of ya…" He thought. "Okay, let's mosey outta here and go find that embryo." Ricky said with assurance.

"Well there's still something we have to be concerned about." Josh said solemnly. "If there really are more of those things down there, you think we'll stand a chance?"

"I dunno." Ricky replied. "But we have to try. We got this far together, so damn hell we can carry on." Ricky said confidently.

Josh chuckled from Ricky's answer. "Yea, you're right."

Helene grabbed her dropped rifle and the anti-virus case and nodded. The survivors left the room, leaving Jonouchi Nayami in peace.

"At least he died human. Spared from a fate worse than death itself." Josh thought sympathetically.

The survivors made their way out of the testing sector without any difficulty. No vents came smashing down along with a Licker or the two-headed insects and no Hunters showed up anywhere. They entered the circular lobby once again. One more door in the lobby was left unchecked up to now.

"You think we should check out that last door?" Josh asked Ricky.

"Hey, we're supposed to be chasing down a 'comrade' of mine." Ricky replied. "I say we do what we promised to Mr. Nayami." He finished and walked over to the elevator.

Ricky pushed on the button which would bring the elevator back up; assuming the man who had shot Helene's father was already on the lower level. A muffled rumble sounded from deep within the facility, assuming the elevator began to ascend.

-

Deep down in the lower level of the Umbrella facility's halls tread two figures. They were clad in brown commando uniforms fitted with body armor and wore black helmets with gas masks in addition, the visors letting out a red glow, which was used for night vision. They were both equipped with M4A1 assault rifles.

"Damn, just where did that Stepanovitch bastard stick that creation of his?!" One of the sweepers asked angrily.

"Who knows. We still gotta cover the whole facility anyway, so keep you pants on." The other one replied.

"What?! You know how the boss gets if we fail? Remember that one time he fucking crushed someone's neck 'crack' just like that?!" The earlier sweeper said, imitating as if he was crushing something with one hand.

"Well if we're lucky, maybe we'll get sliced and diced by one of those things down here." The second sweeper replied sarcastically.

"That's not funny man." The first one complained.

"Just quit your whining and shut it." The second one replied sharply.

The two sweepers continued on in the darkened corridor. They took a turn to the right, scanning the surroundings for any hostile targets thoroughly. They were both perfectly aware of the danger they were in within the facility. Getting inside was easy for them, but now their mission was on a completely different scale. They had scattered throughout the facility in search for what their superior referred to as 'the Genome', while constantly having to fight off many of Umbrella's B.O.Ws, the ones dubbed Hunters being the biggest pests. In the very first scuffle they lost twelve men against a small horde of the green reptilian monstrosities. And only a short while ago a fellow sweeper accompanying the two was picked off by a monster dubbed a V-ACT.

"But sheesh. This place really does scare the shit out of me…" The first sweeper groaned incoherently.

The sweeper looked down at a mutilated maintenance worker sporting the familiar slash wounds of a Hunter's claws, indicating that more of them were nearby.

"Better stay sharp buddy…" The sweeper told his companion. A few seconds went past and he didn't hear a response. "Buddy?" He turn to look, but what he met was the barrel of a shotgun. "What the?!"

Before he could say anything else, the sweeper's head was blown off by a single shot. The decapitated sweeper slumped down onto the ground with blood spraying out of his neck, coloring the floor in front of him red. The assassin chambered a new shell afterwards, the empty cartridge bouncing upon hitting the ground and rolling a few centimeters.

"And I thought you HCF were supposed to be good." Murmured Harris Littman, lieutenant of the fourth division of the U.B.C.S forces. He spitefully kicked the corpse of the decapitated sweeper, causing the corpse the roll onto its back and spurt another good ounces of blood. "Bunch of turds is what you guys are." He sneered.

Harris continued on into the direction the two HCF sweepers were originally going while wiping a decent amount of fresh blood off the blade of his combat knife he used to stab the other sweeper to silence him. All the human adversaries he'd come across the entire ordeal were like pigs to the slaughter for Littman. Being originally a member of CIA's field team, Littman was a perfectly molded, top-notch assassin. He had served in various missions during the ending period of the Cold War. The major part of his job was assassinating anyone who would offend the government of the United States of America, being it Soviet spies or possible defectors. Over the years in an unexplained phenomenon, Littman had begun to practically enjoy the slaughtering, being it with a gun or his most favorite manner, which was ripping open the throats of his victims and letting them die a slow, painful death. Unfortunately his enjoyment of bloodshed got him disbanded from the CIA and confined into a mental hospital for six years. However, he was very fortunate when Umbrella Inc. was able to free him through bribery and took him into the U.B.C.S. The deal he made with the company fitted his blood-crazed demeanor, getting well paid for slaughtering failed experimentations and even enemy spies if he got lucky enough. Unbeknownst to most of his own unit, Littman was in truth a supervisor, assigned to collect data on Umbrella's 'products' on their abilities in combat. He was also assigned to another very dire mission, which was to obtain what the higher-ups called 'the Genome'. Apparently it was the work of Dr. Igor Stepanovitch, the head of the chemical storage facility and laboratory hidden under Raccoon City's industrial square.

"With all that info that dumbass Nayami told me, finding that baby will be nothing but a cakewalk." He thought as he lit yet another cigar while holding onto his Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun with the other hand. "I get that and its hello Easystreet…"

Unbeknownst to the corrupted U.B.C.S lieutenant, along with him on the second floor was something else. More powerful than any Hunter he'd come across, something he thought at first would make his mission much easier. Unfortunately the bad side of certain products is that they may not always work the way the user hopes it to. Somewhere near his position tread the behemoth clad in leather. Originally programmed to clobber anything resembling a B.O.Ws, now its mind was focused on only one thing; pounding the life out of anything it came across…

-

With a loud 'ding', the elevator's doors opened to the awaiting three survivors. The survivors walked in and set down the two cases they were carrying. Ricky then stood next to the elevator controls and punched in a command. After a short loading period, the computer asked for the elevator's security code.

"Five-eight-nine-nine." Ricky recalled and punched in the code and confirmed it. After another few seconds of loading, the computer allowed them access. "Score." Ricky said in a cheerful manner.

The elevator doors closed, following a mechanical hum. The elevator then shook slightly and the survivors felt their bodies nudge upwards a split-second. The elevator had begun to descend.

Josh leaned next to the wall of the elevator, supporting his MP5 next to him and took a comfortable arms-crossed position. He was well aware that he was headed into a more hazardous territory crawling with the most deadly Umbrella creations. His biggest worries however were not just in the Hunters and Lickers, but on the strange monster he saw being sent down to the lower level. Whatever the reason for that monster was, just thinking about it brought shivers up and down his spine. Two days ago when he by such an unfortunate accident ended up stranded in Raccoon City, he at first thought the mere zombies were going to be his only problem. But in only a matter of hours he got his first glimpse of a powerful entity, the one and only Nemesis. He was also very unfortunate to get a taste of the massive being's power personally, almost ending as his demise, hadn't he been rescued by Jill.

"Hey Ricky." Helene spoke up. "What do you suppose that large monster we saw was?" She asked with concern.

"I dunno." Ricky replied solemnly. "But whatever it was, it's gotta be tough." He looked up at the tubular lights attached to the elevators roof as though in thought. He raised a brow in a short while. "Maybe it's that thing your father mentioned. Tyrant, or something like that…"

"Tyrant…" Josh thought. "A fitting name indeed."

Normally the word 'tyrant' would remind him of a cruel human individual such as Adolf Hitler or Josif Stalin back from the age of World War two, when those two ruled over their countries with an iron fist, causing pain and anguish to their own people to get their point across, like the hunt for Jews in Nazi Germany or the banning of all forms of religion in U.S.S.R. Remembering all that those two dictators had done was unforgivable, but now in the present, their doings felt like nothing compared to Umbrella.

Umbrella was originally supposed to be a simple pharmaceutical enterprise, but in truth hid a dark secret that no average person could even begin to imagine. He knew that all too well, he was experiencing the horror weaved by their creations at the very moment. For the past two days he'd been running away from flesh eating zombies, a corpse controlled by mutated leeches, faced off against a giant mutant leech, was chased by a giant mutated crocodile, fought against giant fleas down in Raccoon City's subway station, fled from mutated spiders and other horrifying insect monsters and other crazy abominations not only a kid could believe in.

At first Josh deep down felt that his days were numbered upon being stranded in the hellish necropolis. But he was able to discover hope in time. He first met Helene and then Ricky, followed by Jill and Carlos and later on the band of eight survivors, Kevin, Alyssa, Mark, Yoko, David, George, Cindy and Jim. And he also teamed up with Cranky who helped him through the streets and alleys of downtown Raccoon City. Without them a child like him, despite being exceptionally stronger than your most average high school boy, would have been long dead and be walking alongside the undead citizens of Raccoon City.

Speaking of which, he also wondered where all the survivors were at the moment or if they were even alive. Though not having known them for that long, he could only hope that they were all fine and dandy and were able to find an escape from the city limits…

-

"C'mon Kevin! Shoot it!" Yelled an exasperated Alyssa Ashcroft as she backed away along with Kevin who was trying to take precise aim at yet another Licker they'd come across.

The noise emanated from the reporter only aroused the skinless monster to give out an aggressive hiss whilst preparing to shoot out its deadly tongue. This gave the experienced officer the best of chances to aim and from the pull of the trigger, the Licker's forehead was decimated completely, making the monster's head fall limp on the floor, its body twitching a few times before it fell completely motionless.

"Thanks. That shout really did the trick." Kevin quipped upon setting his Colt. 45's safety on.

"Really funny wiseass." The reporter spat agitated.

Kevin and Alyssa at the moment stood in the dark hallways of what used to be the once popular Apple Inn. At first they sought out shelter from the continuously growing hordes of zombies in the streets, but they were dead wrong. Shortly after arrival, they discovered the entire place to have turned into an infernal haunted house crawling with skinless monsters and more zombies who used to be visitors in the inn. Over the past day the group was split up into half, Kevin and Alyssa made it to the inn along with George and Cindy, while David, Mark, Jim and Yoko ended up elsewhere after a close scuffle with a large horde of zombies. The situation was beginning to become very desperate, the whole city had turned from a plain necropolis to a blazing hot one. Building everywhere began to burn down from the inside, so keeping the zombies in check by remaining survivors was becoming more and more difficult. Despite the situation, Kevin remained confident they would make it out alive one way or the other, even though they were beginning to run out of options. Who knew how long they could keep on fighting.

"It was damn fine when David was with us. At least with him he could make other use of all the junk we've come across." Alyssa complained, sometimes having resort to throwing concrete pieces at zombies. David was a valuable asset to the team with his skill to whip up all sorts of weaponry from common daily items. But now with him elsewhere, they were made to make the best of whatever they had.

"Quit your whining and come on." Said Kevin annoyed of Alyssa's constant bickering.

The two survivors continued on looking for their two companions who were also somewhere in the hotel while to solve a mysterious puzzle involving the inn's structural layout. Perhaps it would give them a way out of the inn or not, but it was worth a shot.

-

Bang!

With yet another perfect headshot, Mark Wilkins downed yet another zombie. He along with David, Jim and Yoko had attempted an escape through the Raccoon Forest. They took refuge in an inhabited cottage deep in the shadowy forest; finding out it was in fact a residence of a strange old man they found, who had supposedly promised to help them get to the neighboring town. However, Mark and David found this individual very suspicious, wondering whether to trust him on his word or not. The woods at first seemed to be fine, but the T-virus infection seemed to have reached the woods. The zombies they had gotten accustomed to however were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the zombies they found seemed to have vegetation growing on them. Whenever they shot one of them on a certain part of the body, mainly the head, this new strain of zombies would release a spore cloud, which they discovered to be poisonous after Yoko took a small dose of it. They were luckily stocked up on some antidote pills supplied by George earlier. Now they had two options, following the mysterious old man, or returning to the city to look for other means of escape.

"Did you guys notice the more we follow that geezer, the more of these things we find?" David asked the entire group, looking in the direction of the old man suspiciously.

David had a good point there. First time they ran into these 'green zombies' there were only around one or two close-by. Now the more they followed the mysterious geezer, they all began to have their suspicions.

"I dunno know about the rest of ya," Mark spoke, "But I think we should go back…"

"What?!" Jim asked in disbelief. "There's no way in hell I'm goin' back there. Nuh-uh" He said defensively.

"I agree with Mark on this one." Yoko said. "Let's not forget that there's a chance of us being infected."

"She does bring up a pretty good point there." David agreed. "I say we don't trust that guy and go back." He said firmly.

"Are you guys actually serious about this?!" Jim asked in utter confusion.

"We can't take any risks Jim. If we're infected, we'll just do more harm than good eventually." Yoko replied calmly as usual.

"Yea. We're better off getting cured rather than starting another outbreak." David affirmed. "Let's go."

With those words, David, Mark and Yoko turned back and began to walk the way they came from. Jim looked back at the three in disbelief, but eventually he gave up and ran after them.

"My life is shit…" He groaned.

-

Josh looked up in thought.

"Please be okay you guys…" He thought.

The elevator ride continued with no exchange of words whatsoever. The three survivors stood in the capacious elevator quietly, each deep in thought. Their hopefully very last hurdle was coming up and they were saving their physical and mental strength for it. Eventually Josh knelt down to make sure his MP5's current clip was full. He tested it by trying to fit in a 9mm round, but it didn't go in no matter how hard he pushed, indicating it was full and ready, so he fastened it back into the gun. He then made sure all of his weapons were strapped onto his belt properly along with the few additional clips for his MP5.

The elevator finally came to a halt, getting the survivors to prepare to exit. Ricky un-holstered his SOCOM and grabbed the case they'd found in Stepanovitch's office. Helene took a firm hold of her Steyr and took the case which held the anti-virus samples. Ricky then prepared to open the elevator's doors, taking a look back at his younger fellow survivors.

"This is it kids. You two ready for this?" He asked.

"Bring them on." Josh replied firmly.

"Yes." Helene replied with a short nod.

"Alright. Here we go." Ricky said pushing the green button which caused the elevator door to open.

The three survivors stepped out of the elevator, finding themselves in an even melancholy room as the lobby above them. The room they entered reminded them of the chemical storage facility hiding the lab facility under it. The walls and floor were a dull gray color and the place was illuminated by tubular lamps installed into the corners of the walls and roof, making it well lit. Despite the illumination, the area felt very eerie and unconsciously horrifying. The elevator was placed in the middle of a section of walls, which made the surrounding area look circular with a hallway beginning from the front and sides and obviously from behind the elevator. Also present in the room were a few downed zombies, most likely dead permanently judging from the amount of blood surrounding them.

Now the only question was where they would find the one who murdered Helene's father. They also had to be wary of the creatures lurking in the confines of the facility. The hunt was on.

-

A/N: Whew, it took quite a while, but it's done. We finally discovered the fate of Helene's father and just who the sweepers really were. Also I thought I should show you readers what was going on with the other survivors. I've probably said this, but I plan on making this story around thirty or more chapters long, these last focusing completely on what happens in the Umbrella facility's second level. I know the last chapters have been very lacking in action, but I assure you it's going to get very rowdy soon. So hang on for some good ol' fashion bloodshed! Also summer vacation is three weeks away, so I'll soon have all the time in the world for this. Bye-bye for now. The nightmare is still far from over…


	24. Chapter 24: Down the Tunnels

Chapter 24: Down the Tunnels

The survivors took a few seconds to get accommodated to their new vaguely familiar surroundings. The second level of the facility may have been well illuminated, so possible ambushes from monsters was hopefully impossible, but it also brought the familiar feeling of dread like all the other areas the three survivors had seen their entire time whilst escaping the outbreak. It was not just the dull and grief color of the environment, or the bloodied corpses of most likely zombies, judging by the different stages of rot and decay on their features. The true dread came from what secrets awaited them down there. The Tyrant, Helene's murderer and most likely the Genome…

"Not the Frankenstein-type thankfully." Josh quipped silently.

"Yea, only they got the monster down here." Ricky added. "Whatever we do now, we gotta be a hundred percent careful. No telling what that thing will do if it sees us." Ricky could only shudder at the thought of encountering the massive behemoth Dr. Nayami called the Tyrant. "I hope you're both ready, cuz this is gonna be a long run."

"Don't worry," Josh assuredly replied. "We've made it this far, we can go on." He added with a confident tone.

"At a boy kid." Ricky replied with a proud smile on his face. "Okay, time to go. This way…"

The three survivors headed down the hall just in front of the elevator. The illuminated hall seemed safe of any dangers for the moment, but chances of an encounter with zombies and most definitely Hunters were high. The top floor of the facility was focused mainly on research and collecting data from what Josh could comprehend, while the lower level served for the production of Umbrella's dangerous and extremely ravenous products.

After a short while the corridor ended to a T-intersection. Ricky voluntarily took a peek to the left and to the right, not spotting anything presenting danger. However a few feet into the right turn he saw a corpse of another sweeper, this one missing its head. It had leaked a lot of blood around it, coloring the floor a dark crimson shade, a familiar sight to see in Raccoon City's darkest hour.

"Wait here." Ricky told his fellow survivors and jogged over to the corpse and began inspecting it. Just then he noticed the sweeper's missing head around five feet away from the rest of the body, thankfully still covered by the familiar gasmask equipped helmet. Still in a tight grasp in the lifeless body's hand was an M4A1 assault rifle, the same kind Ricky carried with him, only this one was added with a laser aiming module. "I'll just take that from ya." He spoke to the corpse and detached the small device from the rifle. He also detached the rifle's current clip and found most of the cartridges gone. "Swell…" Ricky murmured. He then turned over the sweeper's body and thankfully found two fresh clips for his own rifle.

"Yo Rick, what's taking ya?!" Josh called out impatiently.

"Nothing, just come on." Ricky called back while attaching the LAM to his rifle. "There we go." He thought as he tested it, pointing his gun at a portion of the wall.

"Found an LAM I see." Josh said upon noticing the small device on Ricky's rifle. "Now it's you and me both."

"Yea, now all it would need is a grenade launcher…" Ricky spoke jokingly.

"I'd wish." Josh replied in the same manner.

Helene in turn stayed silent, the sight of blood and corpses unnerving her enough to have any forms of conversation as usual. The survivors now took note of their new surroundings. There was still no sign of anything threatening present, but they however had found a door a short distance away to the right. Ricky was first to begin approach, his SOCOM raised as usual. He set down the locked briefcase found in Stepanovitch's office and turned the handle. The door was unlocked, he lightly pushed the door open and peered in gun raised… Nothing lashed out.

"All clear." He told his younger friends and walked in.

This new room seemed slightly unnerving. Despite being a well lit room with the same dull grey colors just like the corridors, it had some very disturbing things inside. Placed just right from the door was an operating kart with a big selection of different surgical tools, such as scalpels, scissors and tweezers. The room also had a table placed right next to the right sided wall with cabinets placed above it. The table was covered in various surgical instruments as well, thankfully none of them stained in blood. Also at the end of the room sat another table that had plastic sheets placed on it. It must have been a surgical table for dissecting small test subjects. In the left side of the room was a table similar to the one on the right, only this one came with a pair of sinks.

"Nothing interesting here…" Ricky thought looking around.

"Reminds me of the biology lab back at school…" Helene said quietly.

"So… shall we move on or what?" Josh asked.

"Yea, there doesn't seem to be anything of interest here anyway." Ricky replied. "C'mon let's move on."

The survivors left the dissection room and continued down the right turn of the corridor. It came to a quick halt to a door that had a sign attached to it. On the sign read 'Danger! High voltage!'

"That was it?" Josh wondered. They were in the heart of the facility and already they came to a stop.

"Seems so." Ricky replied . "We better head back then."

The survivors backtracked all the way to the T-intersection and this time took the left turn. In the same distance as it was for the dissection room, they came to yet another door. Unlike the earlier one, this one was a manual door, so Ricky placed down the case found in Stepanovitch's office and took hold of the door handle. He performed the same procedure of cautiously opening the door and peering inside for any danger. He didn't hear anything at first, nor did he see anything clearly since the room was dim. He pulled the door wide open and trained his gun inside.

The survivors slowly walked inside, staying as quiet as possible… The first thing Ricky made out was a rectangular table in the center of the room added with many chairs, most of them slid neatly under the table while a few of them had been knocked over and thrown around the room. The quietness was suddenly gone with a weak noise of smacking. With a gulp, Ricky advanced towards the table with Josh close behind him, his handgun also drawn. Ricky walked past the table and found the source of the noise; a zombie devouring the corpse of someone. With one shot, the zombie was downed. He took a closer look at the previously devoured person, his overalls indicating he served as a maintenance worker. The cause of death had to be the large bite wound on the neck.

"Something tells me I won't be forgetting that for a while…" Josh groaned in disgust.

"Don't worry kid." Ricky spoke up. "I'm sure if you just look on the bright side of life, you'll forget it before you know it."

"How would you know?" Josh asked raising a brow.

"Cuz that's how I always look at life." Ricky replied simply. "Besides, I got a feeling you'll have something _very_ important on your mind to be remembering that." Ricky added with a wink.

Josh looked at Ricky confused at first, but then figured what the young mercenary meant.

"You seriously won't give up on that huh?" Josh asked bringing his left hand to his waist.

"C'mon kid. I've been studying you. You've got the hots for her and you know it." Ricky replied eagerly. "You don't need to deny it sport, I know how you kids can get. My younger cousin was just like you when he was in the ninth grade. He always kept talking about some girl to me and his older brother and even though we easily figured he had a crush, he kept denying it. And the next thing you know, she got taken." Ricky explained, bringing up another story of his late childhood. "I'm just telling you kid what I told him. You shouldn't blow it like he did. She won't be single forever you know."

Josh suddenly hushed sharply. "Quiet! She's standing in the room with us unless you forgot!" He whispered sharply.

"I heard that." Helene spoke up, making Josh cringe from embarrassment.

Josh looked behind him to see Helene standing only a few feet away from him. Despite the slightly cold air inside the facility, Josh began to feel hot around his face, but certainly not from a fever. Either it was just the typical hormone overload most boys his age had when concerning the opposite sex, or perhaps he was feeling something else he wasn't sure of himself. Helene stepped even closer to Josh with a rare playful smile on her face, a welcoming sight in comparison to her usual gloomy and dispirited expression.

"Uh, Helene, just forget you heard anything, I…" Josh stuttered in desperation.

"I've been aware of your feelings towards me a long time now." Helene interrupted, her smile widening slightly, making Josh swallow the lump forming in his throat. Just then Josh felt Helene's index finger touching his chin, making him blush, though it was hard to tell in the dim room. Ricky took the opportunity to sneak out of the room to give the two teenagers a few minutes of privacy.

"Go get her cowboy." Ricky thought looking back at the teens before going out of sight.

Josh stared into Helene's eyes dumbfounded. What he was experiencing was probably the closest contact he'd ever had with a girl, aside from Amy Tolstoy who of course wouldn't leave him alone no matter what, even if he went as far as to have an aggressive outburst. But with Helene touching him like that, it felt so much different. It felt… enjoyable.

Just then Helene leaned over until her cheek almost made contact with Josh's. This made Josh's heart beat faster than it had just then. Was Helene going to kiss him? Even if he stank of sweat and was covered almost head to toe in dirt and grime?

"Please, try your luck when we get out of here. Okay handsome?" Helene whispered into Josh's ear. She then stood back straight again and winked at Josh, who still stared at her with a look of surprise on his face.

Just then the two were taken aback by the sound of gunfire from outside the room. They quickly looked at the direction of the sound, only to be startled when Ricky rushed inside the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He began to hurriedly unstrap his assault rifle.

"Ricky?! What the fuck happened?!" Josh asked, now unstrapping his own MP5, aware that the current situation was dire.

"I got damn Hunters on my back!" Ricky replied hastily as he trained his rifle towards the door.

"No shit! How many?!" Josh asked, taking a place beside Ricky, aiming at the door himself.

"About three or four at least!" Ricky replied more grimly. "And they look none too friendly to boot!"

"Thanks for reminding me?!" Josh quipped sharply, now feeling his hands tremble slightly at the mention of their adversaries, which already began banging at the wooden door. "Helene, take cover!" Josh ordered.

Helene did as she was told and hid behind the table, taking a little distance from the freshly downed zombie and its recent meal. The banging on the door in turn became more rapid and louder, indicating that the door was not going to last much longer. Both Josh and Ricky would not dare let their aim go unsteady, seeing as this fight may easily cost them their lives, knowing how powerful the Hunters were. It didn't take too long before the door finally broke off its hinges, revealing the small group of reptilian monstrosities awaiting them. As soon as both saw a glimpse of green, they opened fire on the creatures.

The first Hunter fell down instantly with the combined firepower, but then the remaining ones began to barge in, letting out the high pitched shrills. Josh and Ricky quickly stepped backwards from the abominations, not letting their trigger fingers loosen for a second. Ricky was firing in a concentrated fashion, while Josh seemed to be firing in a more unbalanced fashion, not fully used to his new weapon's recoil. Unexpectedly an unknown shot came and tore though one of the Hunter's arms, stunning it enough for Josh to finish it off before his gun ran dry.

"I'm out! Cover me!" Josh shouted through Ricky's gunfire as he ejected the spent clip and grabbed a fresh one from his belt and hastily with slight difficulty at first, managed to attach the clip and pull back onto the bolt before he resumed firing. But before he could start, three of the Hunters were already down for the count and two more were still coming their way.

Another bullet tore though one of the Hunter's by its stomach, but it continued its reckless assault, only to be downed by Ricky's accurate burst. His clip by instinct began to go empty, but he had nothing to worry as Josh, now with more control downed the last one with more ease, probably quickly getting accommodated to the recoil. After that, no more of them appeared to be coming, giving the survivors a breather.

"Well that was intense…" Josh thought looking down at the five downed monsters produced by Umbrella. Looking at the more closely, he noticed these Hunters were much different to the ones they saw in the streets of Raccoon. These were slightly shorter with no red warts growing around their body and had smaller claws. He remembered the ghastly image of this creature back from the computer room in the upper level.

"Nice sniping there Helene." Ricky said looking at Helene who came out from hiding behind the table, indicating her part in the battle was the smoke rising from the barrel of her AUG.

"Yea. I think I'm in love." Josh said jokingly to Helene and winked.

Helene chuckled quietly and grabbed the case containing the anti-virus samples and rejoined her two male cohorts. The three survivors then walked out of the small room and cautiously listened for any signs of more Hunters. So far it was quiet in that area and they headed back to where the intersection started. They then came back to the sector where the circular elevator was located. They were now left with three choices of direction.

"So now what? Split up?" Josh asked.

"Not on your life kid." Ricky replied sternly. "We're not going ten feet farther from each other and that's that." Ricky explained demandingly.

"Okay, okay, relax man." Josh said taken aback slightly by the outburst. "But this facility might be even bigger down here than it was above." Josh added looking up at the elevator in thought.

"Well, suppose we'll just have to guess and make the best of it." Helene said. "So just out of my guess, how about left?"

Ricky could only shrug, not having any detailed information on the lab facility's layout. "I guess so. We gotta keep doing this until we find a map at least."

The survivors took the turn to their left just as they had decided. The corridor ended quickly into a cross-intersection, revealed with an unpleasant sight to behold. A trio of massacred sweepers lay in the middle of the intersection, staining the corridor with the familiar crimson red present everywhere. Judging from the size of the visible injuries added with the lack of a limb on one, the culprits were undoubtedly Hunters, probably from the same pack the survivors had mowed down recently.

"I wonder how many of these guys are down here…" Josh wondered, aware that the sweepers were much worse enemies compared to the B.O.Ws. Never before had Josh thought of fighting fully armed commandos and frankly, he felt it was way to soon for it. He cursed his luck for having planned his trip to his uncle's place in which he ended up getting stranded in the necropolis.

"There's gotta be a few hundred of 'em at least." Ricky figured. "No one would be dumb enough to send a measly ten or so to a place like this. But now I suggest we move along before the ones responsible or these assholes' buddies decided to show up."

Without any thought, the survivors continued straight forward, carefully stepping over the sweepers' bloodied remains. They came up to another slumped down corpse up ahead, this one having its throat torn open which explained the amount of blood present. They eventually came to a stop in front of an electronic door. Stepping through, the survivors were startled by the sight of a lone living sweeper. Upon sensing their presence, the sweeper turned around with his rifle aimed at the surprised survivors, following his orders of killing anyone not from their side.

The survivors in vain raised their hands as a sign of surrender, but it did little to change the sweeper's mind. His LAM's dot found its place right on Josh's forehead, who could only helplessly stand there frozen in place.

"Fuck!" He mused in terror.

Before pulling the trigger, the sweeper was hit right on top of his head by a piece of metal grating falling from the roof with something large on top of it. The survivors couldn't clearly see what was happening thanks to the large operating table in the middle of the room, but they could clearly hear the sweeper's panicked grunts and a sharp hiss, followed by a high-pitched screech and saw a red blur swinging in their vision, followed by and agonising yell from the sweeper.

"You were saying?!" Ricky quipped at Josh. He quickly placed down the steel case and readied his SOCOM for another battle. Josh was quick to join him with his MP5 held up.

They heard a raspy snarl coming form behind the table and the assassin revealed itself. It was however a very unwanted sight. Crawling up the wall was a familiar creature Josh had learned to call a Licker, the skinless humanoids with the sickly features, long claws, razor-sharp teeth and a long whip-like tongue. He had to fear and despise these creatures the most for almost getting gagged to death by one up in the alleys of Raccoon. But a look of utter confusion came to Josh, seeing as this creature looked different. Instead of having its sickly pink colored, sinewy body, this one had grayish green skin and looked larger than Ricky.

"What the fuck is that?!" Helene shouted.

"Licker, but uglier than usual!" Josh retorted and instinctively opened fire, this time feeling more used to the MP5's recoil.

The shots connected with the Licker, making it drop down on the floor, giving Ricky the opportunity to run to the side of the room and take aim with his handgun. Upon getting the creature in his sights, he took the opportunity to fire a few shots at the monster before it thrashed its head crazily and sprung its tongue at Ricky like a lunging rattlesnake. In a fit of surprise, Ricky was forced to dodge, but tripped on his own legs and fell painfully on the floor. Josh answered to it by rushing to the left side of the room and divert the Licker's attention to him. He fired a few short bursts at the familiar humanoid monster. The Licker in turn tensed up upon taking the shots, not cringing from the hot lead like they normally did. Josh could only stare at awe at this new Licker's resistance for a split second before firing at it again. The Licker now let out its high-pitched battle cry and leapt with its arm brought back to swipe Josh right in the face.

"Josh!" Helene gasped in horror.

But Josh was aware of the Lickers' abilities, getting to know them well on the surface and jumped to the side, deliberately falling to the ground in the process, but quickly spun onto his back and kicked himself back up, showing more of his combat skills and survival instincts taught to him by his father. Now was Ricky's turn to take aim and fire two shots at the Licker, the first round connecting with its scapula and other on the back of its head, resulting in the creature letting out another agonizing shriek before collapsing on all fours. Not sure whether to be fully convinced or not, Ricky took slow, cautious steps towards the greyish Licker, gun aimed intently at it if it were to improbably leap at him. Staring down at the monster for a short while with, he saw no real movement, but small and albeit barely noticeable twitches. When he was convinced, he set his gun's safety back on.

"You okay kid?" He asked Josh who had stood up and was dusting himself off.

"Yea, I'm fine." Josh replied nonchalantly. The boy then stared intently at the Licker. "What the hell's up with this?" Josh asked dumfounded. "They weren't that big and they couldn't stand _that_ kind of firepower!"

"Must be an improved version." Ricky assumed.

"Yea, who knows what these bastards down here were capable of." Josh remarked. "I just hope there's not many of these." He prayed.

"Don't push your luck kid. This is their playground." Ricky replied solemnly.

"I figured as much." Josh replied with a sigh of defeat. Now he and his companions had to be wary of yet another unworldly adversary. He could only hope these new Lickers Umbrella had stored weren't as plentiful as the Hunters, knowing of the danger they were in at the very moment. "Now I just gotta keep hoping we don't end up as their desert…" he thought grimly.

"What do you assume they were doing here?" Ricky asked after taking notice of the blanket covered object on the operating table placed in the midst of the room. Curious as he was, he couldn't bring himself to pull off the plastic covers; afraid that what lay under them was not pleasing.

Josh looked at the motionless form obscured by the blue hospital covers, squinting to get a better view at some of the darkened areas. Looking back at the Licker, he began comparing the skin tone of the Licker to the obscured atrocity. In a sudden movement, he took hold of the edge of the cover and began yanking it back.

"Kid what the fuck are you…" Ricky gasped at the boy's intentions.

Helene could only gaze at horror for what Josh had performed. Her arms instinctively prepared to cover her eyes. But before they could prepare for anything worse, Josh stopped, having pulled the blanket back enough to reveal a greyish green arm and a bit of a shoulder.

"Hmm, autopsy I guess." Josh spoke, a slight shiver present in his voice. Apparently Josh was only curious enough to take a small peek of the creature.

Ricky stared at Josh in disbelief with his mouth hung agape, but finally composed himself, seeing his younger friend not having gone over the deep end.

"Don't do that!" He retorted.

"Sorry." Josh replied sheepishly. "I guess I worked out of impulse." He chuckled uneasily.

"Apology accepted. Just warn us the next time." Ricky replied glumly.

Helene ushered enough courage to take a step inside the room, rising on her toes to take a look at the form under the covers before quickly pulling back. Ricky now took the time to see what the sweeper was doing in the room. Placed in the back of the square room was another steel table, lined with more operating tools along with a terminal used in operations to see inside the subject. Attached to the roof was an operating lamp just like in a hospital. He also found a set of papers near the table's right corner. Stepping over the fallen metal grating and the butchered sweeper, he reached for the documents. It looked like a report on a procedure.

_Diagnosis Report:_

_Subject: V-ACT #2_

_Our diagnosis of the new V-ACT is complete. Research began with the use of the upper level experimentation chamber. The subject was pitted against a plain Doberman. As soon as the test commenced, the subject was on the target in mere seconds, not needing respond to loud noises unlike the basic V-ACT. The target was dispatched without any difficulty for the subject. Upon contact with the target, the subject was close to dealing a full decapitation with a single swipe. It's been proven that a basic V-ACT has had trouble breaking through Kevlar vests due to inadequate muscle strength. Upon further testing with a volunteer, the new subject was successful in dispatching of the hapless trooper with less time than the original. Also the new subject was capable in withstanding series of gunfire much more efficiently__. The subjects tongue had subdued the target with a single strike in the stomach and decapitation followed. It appears the new V-ACT has gained enough intelligence to always aim up for the targets most vital part of the body, mainly the head. Suggestion of replacing the original V-ACT for this new version might become recommendable in the near future._

_Diagnosis continued with the autopsy of the same subject. Autopsy at first showed the same characteristics in body structure to the normal V-ACT. Upon studying the senses, we uncovered the #2 to posses a larger quantity of olfactory epithelium, near the same amount as found in dogs. This may be why the subject was capable of attacking without being provoked by noise. The muscle tissue was shown to be used with quite acceptable dexterity, instantly utilizing the legs in a leaping fashion. The subject appears to be more aware of its muscular capabilities than the original. Further experimentation is advised before full recommendation of beginning mass production._

_It must also be noted that the new V-ACT is also difficult to control, much like the Hunter series. The heightened senses failed to come without consequences. We lost two men during transportation to the experimentation chamber and disposal of the subject took longer with the use of Anti-B.O.W gas than with the original. Also the procedure to enhance the V-ACT to this state is confirmed as long and complicated. Up to this point 20 subjects are in existence and are held in the holding pens of level B3. We await your next requests._

_Signed: Alvin Renner _

"Uh, kids…" Ricky spoke looking up from the document. "More trouble."

"What?" Josh asked confused. "What do ya mean?"

Ricky flashed Josh the document and said, "Apparently we got more of these new freaks to worry about and apparently this place has even more floors."

"What?!" Josh asked in exasperation. "Of all the things we had to find out, it had to be THAT!" Josh shouted throwing his arms in the air in anger. "Even more ground to cover! That's just fucking great!"

"Easy, easy there kid." Ricky said as calmly as he could. "I know this is starting to take a toll on ya, I understand, but we gotta do this if we're to ever stop Umbrella. We all want that, no doubt and could use the extra hand." Ricky explained nodding in Josh's direction. "Mainly you."

Josh sighed, composing himself from the abrupt news he heard. "Yea, okay. Since you put it that way it makes me feel more important anyway." He said forcing a determined grin.

"Good to hear kid." Ricky chuckled. "But the good news is that we found some more evidence, this particular covering our new 'friends'…" He explained briefly. "Helene, could you carry this in your backpack too?"

"Of course." Helene replied walking up to Ricky and turned her back to him so he could open it and take out the manila envelope containing the information on the dreaded Genome project. He slipped the report on the new Lickers and slid the envelope back into the safety of Helene's backpack.

"Good. Let's keep going so that we may get out sometime this year." Ricky spoke and headed out of the room.

Josh was ready to follow when he felt Helene's hand on his shoulder. "Hey Josh." He heard Helene speak.

"Yea?" Josh asked turning to her. "What's up?"

"Umm… before that monster almost got you, that move…" Helene spoke in a shy manner.

"Yea, the roll. What about it?" Josh asked.

"It was… awesome." Helene replied shyly. "I swore you were about to die, but you just effortlessly ducked and rolled. It was amazing." She explained. "I suppose you learned that from your father."

"Yea, and John McClane." Josh added, rather sheepishly at mentioning one of his favourite movie characters.

"John McClane?" Helene asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yea, you know, from Die Hard." Josh replied with a slight shrug.

"Isn't that a movie?" Helene inquired.

Josh nodded. "You haven't seen neither of them?" Josh asked curiously.

"No." Helene said with a shake of her head. "I'm not into those senselessly violent movies."

"It has a plot." Josh replied indignantly "It's about a police detective who solves terrorist schemes and kicks their asses." Josh explained rather enthusiastically.

"Whatever you say." Helene shrugged. "Come, let's not keep Ricky waiting." She said as she walked past Josh, her dirt and grime riddled hair still swaying elegantly with each step.

Josh could only smile as he shook his head while rubbing his forehead. "What a girl…" He mused quietly and followed after his two companions. "Shy, bit timid, unpredictable, no taste for cool movies, but God is she hot…" He thought. "But what was that thing back at that room all about?" He continued to wonder, never been to such contact with any female and feel good about it. "Yup, definite top ten for her and a definite, shitty one for Tolstoy."

The survivors came back to the cross-intersection, met again by the signs of a recent, gory battle, earning a second grimace from Josh. The survivors now took a turn to their left, leading to yet another sliding door. As the door slid, another sign of battle laid before their eyes. A small lab had been totalled by a scuffle, two charred sweeper corpses lying prostrated on the ground with one missing half its torso. A tall table had fallen off its feet and was charred black almost entirely. It appeared no equipment had survived the ordeal.

"My God, what happened here?" Helene mused.

"A grenade, no doubt." Ricky replied pointing at something. "See that?

The two teens looked at what revealed to be a small speck of the floor's original grey color that began to darken all around it. Josh was very well aware of the signs, being taught about how dangerous explosives are and what they leave in their wake.

"A final ditch effort huh?" Josh asked, noticing three additional bodies, these belonging to what appeared to be none other than Hunters.

"You know it kid." Ricky nodded. "C'mon, there's nothing for us here to see." He said solemnly and turned back along with his companions. "Let's hope the next room actually has something for us." He thought as he stepped over the bloodied corpses in the intersection.

The next room had its door left open due to another corpse that lay prostrated right in the middle of it. But concern overcame the survivors as this sweeper hadn't been killed by any of Umbrella's creations. Upon closer inspection, the man had one of his legs shot and the head had been blasted from behind with possibly a shotgun. The back of the skull had blown open, spraying blood on the walls and the door frame and exposing less than half of what remained of the brain. The gut wrenching sight made Helene turn away in terror and Josh almost felt like throwing up, tightly clasping his mouth and nose shut with his hand. Ricky grimaced at the gruesome sight and for the teens' sakes grabbed the corpse by its legs and dragged it back all the way to the piled up corpses in the middle of the intersection.

"Aw man…" Muffled Josh in disgust. "That's so fucking disgusting!"

"Don't worry kid, I took it away." Ricky spoke, giving Josh enough courage to open his eyes.

The teen sighed from relief. "Thanks man. I swear I was about to throw my lunch…" The word lunch however made Josh's stomach turn, so he dropped the subject. "Anyway. Any idea who did this?" He asked sarcastically, already aware of who the perpetrator was.

"Yep. He's sly, cruel and deserves a well rounded ass-kicking." Ricky replied angrily. "Harris…"

Within the room the survivors found another sweeper's corpse. This one had been shot in the right leg's tibia and on the right shoulder, used to likely disarm him and had been finished off with a stab in the throat by a knife. Ricky found two additional clips for his M4A1, now well stocked on ammunition. The room had served as a surveillance room. The corpse had slumped right next to the terminal accompanied by a large set of screens, but they had all been shot broke. The terminal was also out of order, having been shot in various places and seemed to have had its wiring cut. The one who was responsible for this was beyond a doubt a professional who knew what he was doing.

"That's damn brilliant." Josh said while studying the damage. "The guy took out any possible way to track him down in the facility."

"When you've got trained killers hunting you down, one can never be to careful kid." Ricky replied. Ricky then took note of three lined lockers placed right next to the door. He first went for the one placed closest to the door, finding it to be open. What he saw inside made his eyes widen in amazement.

"Well, what've we here?" He mused and reached for something in the locker. Upon taking out the object, it revealed to be a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun complete with a strap. "This will do nicely." He thought as he inspected the weapon. So far it wasn't loaded, but that wouldn't have been of concern in any way. In the locker there sat two boxes of 12-gauge shells and Josh was fully stocked on the same ammunition, so he had no use for the ones in the locker.

"Now that's a hell of a gun." Josh remarked. "An actual SPAS-12. You got yourself a keeper there."

Ricky suddenly turned to look at Josh with a raised brow. "Kid, are you this good at school as you are with guns?"

Josh returned the gaze with a furrowed one. "What are you implying?"

"Oh, uh. Never mind." Ricky hastily replied and simply knelt down to open one of the shotgun shell cases. Despite not having any need for all of them, he took out eight shells and loaded them into the shotgun's underbarrel tube magazine and pumped it. "You don't mind sparing me some more shells right?" He asked as he crammed a few extra shells into his pants' pocket since his utility vest had begun to run out of room.

"If you ask nicely, maybe I won't." Josh chuckled.

"Gee, thanks." Ricky replied sarcastically. "Anyway, let's see what's behind door number two." He joked as he tried pulling open the middle placed locker. It wasn't locked much to his satisfaction. As he opened it, he came across shelves containing several boxes of 9mm bullets and a Beretta M93R handgun, the same Josh was carrying. The higher shelf contained a handful of signal flares and a flaregun. On the shelf lower from the one containing the Beretta and the 9mm ammo was something that made Ricky whistle. "This one doesn't look too shabby either…" He said and took form the shelf a large revolver.

Josh's eyes widened upon setting his sights on the gun Ricky had taken. "Ricky, could you please let me see that." He asked in an almost excited manner as he held out his hand.

With a shrug, Ricky placed the gun in the teen militarist's hand. Gazing at it in awe, Josh was instantly aware of what he was grasping. An actual Colt Python magnum revolver.

Josh looked up at Ricky and said. "Please?" At that point he sounded almost as if pleading.

"But you already got a magnum." Ricky replied.

Josh in response put down his MP5 and drew his S&W. He unexpectedly to Ricky, held it out to Helene. "Take this in my stead Helene."

Helene took the revolver from Josh's hand, looking at it in confusion. Josh got the instant idea and stepped closer to the Japanese girl.

"It's different from an automatic. You first gotta push this switch here to swing out the chamber. Then you have to shake out the spent cartridges and place the new ones either by hand or by use of a speedloader." Josh explained, pointing out every part in the revolver in hopes of teaching Helene how to use it if it came of need. "Also, this gun has much harder recoil, so remember to have a firm grip. And out of anything else, remember that it carries only six shots. So please, try not to panic when using this, okay?"

"I'll try, I guess." Helene replied, unsure of how her short prowess with firearms will turn out with her new weapon.

"Well, if you two are going to go all cowboy, you better take these." Ricky mentioned as he pulled out a rather large box.

Taking the box and opening it, Josh found twenty speedloaders already filled with Colt 357. rounds. He took ten for himself and gave the rest to Helene.

"Wait, are you sure both of our guns use the same bullets?" Helene asked while fiddling with one of her speedloaders with her fingers.

"They should, let met check." Josh said, and swung out his new Colt Python's cylinder. Helene in turn did the same for her S&W. They held the rounds close to one another. It didn't take an expert to see that the bullets were the same width and length. "Guess I was right." Josh shrugged and placed the bullet back in his gun, slamming the cylinder shut afterwards and strapping the gun on his old belt.

"Are you sure you're as good in school as you are with guns?" Ricky asked uncomfortably.

Josh let out a sigh of exasperation. "For your information, I do fine in school and instead of comic books, I read books on guns. Satisfied?"

"Sorry to have bothered." Ricky replied. He then took one more look in the locker and found a piece of paper.

_Emergency munitions._

_Only in case of emergencies!_

_During any possible outbreak, additional weaponry found in the bottom-third level __armory_

"I figured they'd have an armory." Ricky murmured. "Well, locker number three to go." He spoke and opened the left side locker. "Hmm. These guys don't seem to take any chances in their own labs…" He mused, finding an M79 grenade launcher and two packages of explosive rounds. "Tempting, but we can't carry all of this stuff. If only I had an attachable one for my rifle…" He thought.

"That's a pretty old looking grenade launcher they got." Josh spoke seeing the weapon.

It didn't come as a surprise for Ricky who in knew a little bit about Umbrella's budget. Umbrella had spent billions of dollars on their viral research and facilities to carry out their projects altogether, but it needed something to sustain its military as well. In addition to the expensive weaponry, such as high-grade firearms, military transport and various other military hardware, Umbrella occasionally depended on the black-market trade, where it purchased out-dated weaponry. He remembered when the U.B.C.S - himself including - were supplied with their weaponry and hardware, few unlucky ones were assigned with AK rifles instead of the usual M4A1 most of the unit was assigned with. It saddened him to know Umbrella spent all its dollars on tools of mass destruction instead of finding cures for diseases that killed almost as effectively as their own T-virus.

"Well, this is the most we can carry. We're just gonna have to return here if things get out of hand, or if not possible, we have to find that armory." Ricky spoke. Deep down he hoped they could avoid conflicts, especially with the Hunters and the new and improved Lickers or the gigantic insects they saw in the upper levels. They would need their ammunition if they were to stand a chance against the giant brute Dr. Nayami had released down in the facility's depths to combat the Hunters, but remembering the warnings of it being unstable almost assured they'd have to fight it to get past it.

"Right." Josh nodded. "Let's go find that son of a bitch and Genome."

"Did you actually say that about 'it'?" Helene asked in horror.

Josh then remembered the actual Genome creature. A B.O.W created from a kidnapped citizen of Raccoon City who was now a large, hideous and terrifying beast that undoubtedly would behave like any other creatures they'd seen created by Umbrella's virus. Thinking of the photos of the thing made Josh shiver. Their target thankfully wasn't the monster from what he'd understood, but rather the embryo that sparked the creation of the monster.

"J-just, forget I said anything." Josh blurted out and walked out of the room, followed close by Helene and Ricky who easily got back in the lead.

The three survivors rounded past the gored intersection one more time, making their way back to where the elevator was located. So far they had gone in two of four directions. They had taken note that the last two found locations hadn't gone too far before coming to a complete halt in their progress to find Dr. Nayami's murderer, or the Genome embryo for that matter. They were now left with two choices, the path left from the elevator, or the back.

"Well, two choices kids. What'll it be?" Ricky asked and straightened his rifle's strap on him.

"I say we go that way and find that bastard pronto!" Josh spoke demandingly as he pointed to the path behind the elevator. "That scumbag's gonna get what's coming to him!"

"Whoa, chill kid." Ricky spoke to calm the enraged teenager. "I know that he's one of our main objectives. Also kid, don't even think that you're gonna shoot him." Ricky added much more sternly. "The last thing you need to loose is your spotless record of not having killed anyone living."

Ricky had a very good point. Josh was only fifteen, not even close to out of his pre-teen years. Though Josh had been trained on how to survive in dire situations and how to use guns to defend himself, but his father had never told him about killing. Josh knew clear as day that no matter who your kill and for any reason, be it hatred or revenge, it was still wrong. Anyone sane, be it an innocent child or a simple adult or even a soldier who killed for a living, they all knew it was a terrible crime against humanity. Josh sometimes wondered himself why his father started training him in the first place? The simple summertime camping trips in the rough outdoors or the backyard martial arts lessons Josh could understand, they were simple ways to teach him how to survive in the wilderness against the weather and other odds, such as dangerous animals, with our without the use of a weapon. But then, what were the shooting ranges and lectures about guns for, especially the assault rifles, grenade and rocket launchers? Those weapons were invented for the sole purpose of slaughtering adversaries of the same race he himself belonged to.

"Why indeed?" Josh wondered. "I'm not even sure if I want to join the military that much. I mean, dad was born and grew up during the cold war, when soldiers were needed to defend the U.S, but what need do I have to be a soldier, a killer?"

"Josh?" Ricky called out worriedly, but Josh didn't even hear him. "Josh!" Ricky called out louder, succeeding in snapping the young Ellington from his thoughts. "Hey, you alright?"

Josh looked up at Ricky grimly before replying, "Yea. Just got something on my mind." Josh tiredly blinked his eyes, caused by the lack of sleep during the entire ordeal. "Ricky, why do you think my dad trained me into what I am in the first place?"

Ricky looked at Josh with a confused expression. "What'd ya mean?" He asked.

Josh looked down on the floor in thought before came his reply. "Sometimes, I feel as if I'm being trained for some kind of purpose. But for some reason, I feel as if this reason might be the wrong one…" Josh replied grimly.

Ricky now had a look of understanding on his face. "Ah, I get it. You're questioning what might happen if you really do what we soldiers are trained for since day one after signing up."

"What do you mean?" Helene asked, stepping into the conversation.

"I mean that Josh is afraid what might become of him if he ever kills someone." Ricky explained briefly, making Helene secretly gasp. "To tell you the truth you two, I was kinda worried too back when I was in training. My reasons for joining SEALs was so that I could do something honourable for my country, but then, we soldiers are all the same. It doesn't matter if we're the SEALs, the Green Berets, the Marines, we're all men assigned to kill other men. It's how it goes, we train to kill, when we're ready, we kill for real."

Josh now had the answer clearer than daylight. His father had trained him in hopes if Josh might carry on the tradition of the family. Josh remembered his father telling him a few years back that the Ellington family had a long line of soldiers, ranging from World War one or maybe even beyond it. Josh had lost his grandfather long before even meeting him in the Vietnam War, having only photographs of him and the same old military belt he always wore around his waist as a sort of good luck charm. His father later on battled in the Gulf War in 1991, when Josh was only an eight-year-old. Josh understood that once he entered a battlefield in a war that was to happen in the future, it was his turn to kill or be killed.

"Right." Josh mused. "No way. I like myself better the way I am now. Spotless death count sounds much too good to spoil." He added.

Ricky smiled proudly at Josh and patted the youth on the shoulder. "It's your call kid. Like my grandpa used to tell me, we all choose our own things in life."

Helene couldn't help but smile proudly at Josh too. She was happy that Josh decided to give up on the military when he had the best of chances. To her Josh looked too good for it all. A boy like him could have had a bright future ahead of him, perhaps as a police officer since he already possessed an athletic build, great health and much needed skills. We protect an entire country in his future when he could protect a single city. But it would all have come in a long, long time. After their escape, Josh should've in her opinion just enjoy life that wasn't ruined unlike hers.

"He makes me smile so easily." Helene thought looking at Josh who scratched his head. "Maybe I should consider it…"

"So Rick, what'd ya suggest we do?" Josh asked.

Ricky looked in both unexplored directions. They so far hadn't come up with much, save for some additional weapons and ammunition and a small piece of evidence, they still had no idea of their coming destination. They had to hurry in order to capture Dr. Nayami's murderer and fulfil the promise of him not getting his hands on the Genome, but they also had to eliminate possible risks of becoming lost. Some helpful advice they'd uncovered was that the facility had more floors than what they knew of. Instantly and idea popped into his head and he headed back into the elevator.

"Hey, what's up?" Josh asked following closely.

"The note back in the security office said something about a third floor armory. Since there are infact more floors, perhaps we can gain access." Ricky explained as he began checking for information on the elevator's control panel. After a few minutes, Ricky had found the answer. "Hmph. Really fair…" He grumbled.

"What is it?" Helene asked, looking at the control panel's screen.

"We need to find a second elevator to access the lowest levels!" Ricky retorted. "Just great! And there's no telling how big this floor is!"

"Now you calm down man!" Josh snapped. "We might as well stop wasting time and go find it. We gotta keep our word to Mr. Nayami."

Ricky took a deep breath and consoled himself. "You're right. No use standing here then. Let's move!" Ricky ordered and the trio moved out of the elevator. Without much thought, Ricky lead the group to the corridor on the right.

"You sure you know where you're going?!" Josh asked uneasily.

"No." Ricky promptly replied. "That's why we gotta find a map of this dump's layout."

"Hey, great idea!" Josh replied with a more reassured feeling.

Thanking their luck, the corridor took a sharp turn left. However the corridor here wasn't so clean of dangers either. Miraculously hidden away from the sweepers and even the Hunters and Licker were three long dead zombies, these ones also busily feasting on remnants of a carcass. Slumped down a few feet further were three zombie corpses, probably shot. The zombies also seemed to have had trouble devouring this particular corpse. It turned out to be the corpse of a sweeper, who only had his legs and arms seemingly stripped to the bone, the Kevlar vest having protected the rest of the body from the zombies' teeth. However, having come close enough to their senses' range, the three zombies slowly stood up from their hard-to-chew meal. They revealed themselves as maintenance workers, each having rotted beyond recognition of what they had been as humans. Without any thoughts whatsoever, Josh quickly trained his MP5 at the closest one and laid to waste with a single three-shot-burst, almost decimating the severely rotted cranium. Before Helene or even Ricky could react, Josh downed the second one with equal ease and as well as the third one.

Ricky looked down at Josh with a smile. "You've gotten good." He complimented, earning a grin from Josh.

"Ellington genes." He simply replied.

The corridor didn't reach long , probably around thirty meters from the turn. What they found was a single door placed right in the midst of the walls entire length. The door was similar to the dark room the survivors had found earlier. The door had been marked with a white sticker in bold black letters as 'Archives'.

Ricky smiled smugly upon learning what stood behind the door. "Bingo." He thought victoriously.

-

A/N: Woo! Six or so more chapters to go, and this was another keeper. Summer has started and I have cut down on Warcraft for real, I haven't even paid the bill for it, nor am I going to anytime soon. During gaming hours I only play my beloved collection of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and a non-series, but still kickass game known as Cold Fear (I highly recommend it if you want to feel frightened.).

I'll begin work on the next chapter first thing tomorrow when I turn on the computer, so I won't keep ya'll waiting.

I've been improving my vocabulary once again, so I hope the text has gotten better since my last entries. Please comment me on that if you please. I've been studying more complex words and their meanings and taken notes while reading fanfiction that in my opinion puts mine to shame, specifically those of noctorro, Metal Harbinger and HyperactiveHamsterofDoom. I highly recommend reading their RE based fictions. If any of you three happen to be reading this, I just want to say that you rock!!

Also some of you might be wondering if the Colt Python and S&W 686 really do use the same bullets. I've been researching various weaponry and armaments, so I can assure you, they both use Colt 357. rounds. I also decided Ricky could need use some more firepower, so I threw in the munitions locker for that very reason. But at the same time I wanted to tone down on the amount of weaponry our heroes have, so no grenade launchers, at least for now anyway.

Also I wish to hear if the terrain and surroundings are planned well enough. I try to make the Umbrella facility as complex as possible, a little something I picked up form Silent Hill. It's pure murder trying to find your way around, especially if you don't have a map!

I suppose this is a long enough author's note. I just wanted to inform you all and answer some questions you might have in your minds. The story will continue as planned, so wait for some more RE: Genome goodness in a few days. And: The nightmare's far form over…


	25. Chapter 25: Could You Kill a Monsterman?

Chapter 25: Could you kill a Monsterman?

"_Bang!_"

Another zombie fell victim to Josh's MP5 sub-machinegun. Josh had performed a volunteer sweep of the B2 floor's archive room due to him being well stocked on 9mm ammunition. Upon entering the room, the first sight was another gruesome scene of zombies tearing apart the remnants of yet another corpse. The two feasting zombies had almost no time at all to react to the teen's presence and both of them were struck in the temple by two well-placed shots since Josh could now make full use of the MP5's LAM unlike the one he had equipped to his earlier USP which was destroyed by Hunters not too long ago. The slight dimness of the facility allowed Josh to see the laser more clearly and what it was pointing at.

The room was capacious around the door at first, but then shelves of various records and files were placed in neat lines. Making a full sweep of the room to ensure his and his companions' privacy while looking for a much needed map and possibly evidence to use against Umbrella, he'd found another zombie hidden within the rows of shelves and like most other undead he'd come across during the grueling ordeal, Josh shot it once in the cranium and ended its suffering for good. After checking the aisles between the rests of the shelves, he found nothing else considered life threatening.

"Okay, it's clear." He called out from the depths of the room.

Ricky and Helene entered the room, taking note of the minor bloodshed courtesy of the young Ellington. In an instant, Ricky walked over to a computer module right opposite the door. It had been added with a state-of-the-art copy machine which also worked as a printer. The young mercenary immediately accessed the computer and began searching for a map.

"You sure you can work that thing?" Josh asked looking at the screen from the side.

"Please, haven't I been able to use these things in the past?" Ricky asked.

"Speaking of which, where'd you learn all that?" Josh asked out of curiosity.

"I took computer classes in high school." Ricky replied simply.

"Oh. What got you interested?" Josh asked again.

"The possibility of getting a job not as action packed as the SEALs." Ricky replied.

"So then what made you choose the action packed side of life?" Josh asked yet again.

"Kid, can I please find the map for this dump or are we gonna reminisce all day?" Ricky asked in a more annoyed tone.

"Sorry." Josh instantly brought up his hands defensively. "What time is it anyway?" He wondered. He had been trapped within Raccoon City well over two days now and since the had been underground for several hours now, he could only assume it was well past midnight. It somehow felt so fitting for an ordeal such as this. For a long time he'd felt as if he was personally experiencing a grade-A horror movie which ironically had to have a night time plot. But he was more than aware it was real and not a nightmare as he'd been hoping. The feel of his surroundings, the emotions he'd experienced, all the crazy stunts he'd done and the wounds were enough to prove himself that his mind wasn't fooling him.

After a tired sigh, he set down his backpack and took out the bottle of water he'd kept there. The liquid had long since warmed, but it was fine with him. He took a few big gulps before placing it back in the backpack, which also began to show signs of unusual wear. Dirt and mud had caked around its lower portions, noticeable scratches had appeared all around it and one of the straps used to tighten or loosen the backpack's shoulder straps had been snapped shorter and the second one had been burned. With the memories of the ordeal, the injuries, the mental scars and maybe his once favorite backpack, even if people wouldn't believe the stories about the zombies and Umbrella's B.O.Ws, most people would believe that he'd be a survivor of a major city war. If he would make it out alive that is…

"You tired?" Helene asked, noticing Josh's tired expression.

Josh nodded. "Yea." He replied. "How about you?" He asked in response.

"Surprisingly I'm not." Helene replied. "I guess this ordeal's left me too concerned to rest at all." She added grimly.

"You have my condolences." Josh said kindly. "Think I keep doing that too much lately." He asked sheepishly.

"No. It's good that you care Josh." Helene responded as she began to feel more comforted by Josh's thoughtful words.

"Of course." Josh nodded firmly. "I got something to fight for now that has meaning. I want none of this to recur ever again. That's why taking out Umbrella will from now on be my number one priority."

Helene looked at Josh proudly, "You're so brave Josh. It amazes me where you get all that courage."

"I guess I just have guts." Josh shrugged. "I've been noted to tackle challenges and this is by far the most infuriating one I ever have."

"I see…" Helene looked down on the floor before looking back at Josh. "I'm also thankful about all the comfort you've given to me."

"It's something I have to do as well. You've suffered enough and I want to protect you until we're all safe and outta here." Josh replied. "I guess you can call it a moment's first priority." He added with a small laugh.

"I'm also thankful for what you promised back in the tram." Helene said while taking a glance at Ricky's progress. So far the mercenary was still busily searching.

"Really?" Josh asked curiously, not remembering what exactly he'd said. "What did I say?"

Helene closed her eyes in thought before responding. "You promised to help me settle into you hometown after we escape. That's so sweet of you." She said with a noticeable note of happiness in her voice.

"Oh yea, I remember." Josh replied thinking back to the hectic underground subway station infested by giant fleas. It was before Josh became forcefully separated from the group of survivors he, Helene and Ricky had teamed up with earlier. He was amazed he was still alive, taking note of how forcefully he'd been thrown out of the speeding train and luckily landed on the next stop with minor cuts and bruises. "What a trip that was." He mused quietly.

"Umm Josh." Helene spoke, sounding as if she was embarrassed from something. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yea? Shoot." Josh replied.

"Since I'm probably going to have some difficulty accustoming to my coming new life… well, I just…" She began to stutter.

"Yea, what is it?" Josh asked more curiously.

"Well… I-I've been sort of hoping that… well…" She continued to stutter trying to choose the correct words, "C-can you… I mean, could we… be together in a more 'closer' aspect?"

Josh became suddenly dumbstruck by Helene's words. He wasn't expecting ones as such at all, especially form a person he'd known for only a few days. But in comparison to Amy Tolstoy's approach, they sounded much more pleasing. Josh had never been in any form of relationship with a girl at all, so Helene's choice of words felt entirely new to the teenager. But then again, there was a first time for everything…

"So… what do you mean by 'a more closer aspect'?" Josh asked even if he was aware of what she meant.

"Well, you told me you weren't in a relationship so…" Helene murmured, but audibly enough for Josh to hear her.

"You're asking me to be your boyfriend right?" Josh implied.

"Well…yes…" Helene replied sheepishly. She prepared herself mentally to prepare for more questions, Josh's amusement to the subject or even insults. She felt so embarrassed she'd hoped the floor beneath her would have just gone and crumble.

"Okay." Came a sudden simple response.

Helene's eyes opened wide from surprise. She looked back at Josh who had a warm, caring smile on his dirt covered face.

"Y-you really mean it?" Helene stammered nervously.

Just then Josh took hold of Helene's hand, holding onto it gently. "You better believe it." Josh replied and continued smiling.

Ricky unbeknownst to the two teenagers heard the entire thing and did his best to seem as if he wasn't paying attention, keeping his eyes glued to the computer screen and continued looking for a map of the facility.

"At a boy kid, I knew you had it in ya." He thought proudly, feeling relaxed that his new friend can get a chance to partially forget the nightmarish memories of the outbreak. He then continued looking for his intended target more intently. After searching through various archives that proved otherwise worthless to the survivors. After a few long minutes of clicking and scrolling, the young mercenary found what he was looking for. "Bingo." He mused and activated the print function.

The sudden hymn of the print functions equipped copying machine permeated through the room's atmosphere. This indicated to Josh and Helene that Ricky had found their intended target. The machine then produced what they counted nine pieces of white paper. Ricky took the press-warm papers and inspected the copies' quality. He then took three of them for himself and held out the remaining six to Josh and Helene.

"Take these just in case we get separated." Ricky suggested, eliciting his younger companions to take copies of the map to themselves.

"At least now we know where we're going." Josh spoke as he looked at the map of level B2. He was surprised to see that floor was in fact much larger than he had suspected earlier. According to the map the floors were built in a rectangular shape and noticed he and his fellow survivors still had a long way to go into inspecting the remaining three floors of the facility.

"Thank goodness for that." Helene concurred in response.

"We still got a lot of ground to cover, so might as well get started." Ricky suggested. "C'mon."

They exited the room, now with knowledge on where to go next. Taking a look at the map, the corridor behind the elevator would lead them past the floor's bathrooms and the employee's break room, which came as a surprise to Josh that the facility even had those, thinking most of Umbrella's workers were either forced like slave labor or were so twisted they wouldn't even take breaks from their inhumane experiments. After getting through the rather long corridor they would then have two choices of direction, forward towards a sector used for research and testing and right to the sector where offices of various professors were in. Placed in the very back past all of them were two squares marked as elevators.

"This sure makes it easier to get around." Ricky mused. "Okay, follow me and keep your eyes peeled." He ordered and began walking with his new SPAS-12 held at waist level.

The survivors returned to the sector with the elevator they had used to enter the bottom of the facility. They now chose the only remaining direction they could take, which was the one behind the elevator. Much to their fortune or misfortune, whichever way they'd put it, they found more slaughtered zombies laying motionless on the floor.

"Our friends must have gone through here." Josh stated.

"That means they might be close." Ricky mused. "We gotta be more cautious from this point on, got it?" He asked.

Josh and Helene both nodded in response. They carefully maneuvered around the mat of corpses in case they were to rise back up form the dead like they usually did if they weren't shot in the head. The floor was practically repainted red by the dried viral blood. They went past the floor's men's and women's bathrooms into a gap in the wall. A few feet further they went past the employee's lounge, probably full of more corpses or living zombies. They eventually came to the corridor's end, two doors before them, one right in front which was a large reinforced steel door and the other door was on the right wall next to it. Also they found another sweeper's corpse lying on the floor with a large amount of flesh absent from his neck area. Josh voluntarily searched the corpse, but found nothing on him, indicating the other sweepers had taken all of the weapons and ammunition.

"So now that we're here, I suppose we're gonna go through that, right?" Josh asked pointing towards the reinforced door with 'Experimentation' and 'Biological Research' written onto it with bold red letters.

"You better believe it." Ricky replied. "But I won't enjoy it, like neither would you two."

"You read my mind." Josh replied uneasily, aware that one of the T-virus sources was just beyond these two doors and was probably the most infested area they'd been in, so he could only hope the sweepers had taken care of most of the zombies and mutants within their confines.

Ricky swallowed in fear as he took hold of the door handle. Reluctant as he was to enter, he urged enough strength to push down on the cold steel handle. Afterwards he waited, holding his breath in order to hear if anything was moving on the other side. Josh took the opportunity to train his weapon towards the door as a precaution if something were to jump up on them as soon as the door would open wide enough. As they waited for any signs of hostility on the other side the entire room seemed to go eerily silent. The only things that could be heard was the humming of the ventilation system's ducts built within the roof. Ricky was now assured that no monsters were waiting for their entry, so he cautiously pushed the door open, making Josh tighten his hold onto his MP5. After opening the door wide enough, the survivors couldn't help but gaze in horror at the sight before them.

"Oh dear God!" Josh thought as he stood terrified.

The facility behind the steel doors was almost like Hell had risen from underground. Blood stained the similarly depressing gray walls, countless bullet casings were on the floor along with spent clips and used shotgun shells. Lying all around the room were battered, bloody remains of sweepers and farther down there appeared to be three dead Hunters, riddled with both bullet holes and disgusting gashes all over their scaly bodies. The door began as a wide corridor with a flashing red light bolted up on the roof that probably indicated to others of the dangers lurking all around the sector.

"What the fuck happened here?!" Josh asked in bewildered fear.

"I don't know kid, but it sure did these guys in good…" Ricky remarked looking down at the dead sweepers. The bodies themselves hadn't been searched almost at all judging from various gear they still had on their persons. He found some additional shells for his new shotgun and found five MP5-clips for Josh.

"Just look at those dents on this dude…" Josh spoke, referring to a sweeper who's skull just had to have been cracked judging from a large dent on his helmet. "It's like he was sledged in the head!"

"Maybe he was…" Ricky replied uneasily.

"Ricky," Helene interjected. "Do you think this the work of that thing my father mentioned?" She asked with a frightened tone.

Ricky thought back at the time they saw the large humanoid brute before it was lowered down into the lower levels. The large dents and sickening marking on some of the sweeper's helmets and body armor was a good choice of pointing out that something as large and undoubtedly powerful could have very easily been the perpetrator. Ricky's biggest concern now was that since seven sweepers had been downed so easily by the brutal behemoth, how could he, josh and Helene stand up to it?

"I'm not sure, but it's possible." Ricky replied solemnly.

"So we're now up against something _this_ powerful?!" Josh asked frightened. "Aw man… we're so dead meat!" He muttered incoherently.

"Don't worry kids, I won't let anything happen to ya, I promise." Ricky declared firmly.

"Really comforting man…" Josh replied sarcastically.

The survivors made their way out of the bloodied section of the corridor and came to a less wide proportion of it. The walls there weren't covered in blood and no corpses or signs of a struggle were present. The surrounding air also began to feel colder than it did outside the experimental sector, making Josh cuss silently upon remembering the absence of his jacket.

"Geez! It's freezing in this shit hole!" He murmured angrily as he rubbed his right arm with his left hand in attempt to warm himself.

"Sure is." Ricky replied. "Must be because of the experiments."

"Will you be alright Josh?" Helene asked with concern.

"Yea, I'll be fine. I'd be just less uncomfortable if my jacket hadn't been melted." Josh replied annoyed, remembering how his once favorite jacket was nothing but a few leather pieces.

"Deal with it kid. You won't feel the difference in a while." Ricky spoke.

"I hope so." Josh replied. "I better not catch a cold of all things in here." He added.

"A cold will be the least of your worries down here kid…" Ricky thought, worried, but wary in case they were to run into the creature Helene's father had dubbed as 'the Tyrant'…

-

Littma quickly pumped his SPAS-12 and fired another direct buckshot into a zombie's face blowing it up with a blast of blood. He spat out his latest cigar while he fitted more 12-gauge shells into the powerful gun before chambering the first. He had so far made it to the B3 level of the facility after a narrow escape from his pursuer, a large, pale, green trenchcoat clad monster according to Dr. Jonouchi Nayami would have helped him clear away any hostilities. But now he had discovered the brute dubbed by his employers as a Tyrant, had gone completely wild and appeared to attack anything moving that got in its sight. But now he had to carry on with his given assignment of procuring the Genome embryo.

"God damn lying bastard that Nayami was…" He muttered as he walked over his recent kill. "Telling me that thing would keep me safe! Tch," he spat. "Thanks to that shithead I could've lost my own life. And there's no fun in that." He mused, remembering how easy it had always been for him to kill someone of something during the outbreak, but during his encounter with the Tyrant, he had almost been smashed by the towering behemoth's foot, hadn't he rolled out from under and used a flashbang to temporarily stung the monster so he could make his getaway.

He continued on in his pursuit of Dr. Stepanovitch's ultimate achievement in Umbrella's bio-weapons program. The B3 level may have been just the ideal place to carry on his investigation on the project and to secure the final Genome-sample. According to the instructions given to him by Dr. Nayami the first sample was transplanted inside a living test subject that was stored in the B4 level. The second sample had apparently been stolen by one of the projects three directors who inexplicably disappeared a few weeks ago. The remaining sample's location was unknown, but Harris was determined to find it and collect his reward resting on it.

"What a challenging job this turned out to be." He thought as he cautiously rounded a corner. No threatening B.O.Ws in sight… "I haven't had this much fun ever since the time of the Cold War."

Just then a section of grating fell down from the roof with a loud, resounding bang. Along with it came down another creature Umbrella had dubbed as a V-ACT. The monster lashed out with its claws at first, which the hardened war veteran and assassin backstepped easily. The V-ACT then reared it head back with its mouth hung agape and its tongue sticking out of its mouth like a snake. Knowing too well what the V-ACT:s were capable of, Harris quickly drew his Sig PRO handgun and quickly fired numerous shots in the monster's face, making it bring its head back down as it hissed from the pain.

"Adios bitch!" Littman shouted and with one hand fired a close buckshot right into the creature's face, resulting in another bloody burst of flesh and brain matter. The sight brought a sadistic grin onto the ex-government assassin's face. Despite his current foes not crying out or screaming in pain, it was adequate enough for him. The beheaded corpse convulsed uncontrollably as blood continued to spurt from its neck. The gruesome sight made Littman cackle insanely. "Yea! Die bitch, die!"

-

The three survivors continued their tread down the eerie halls of the research facility. Ricky like usual took the lead with his shotgun held at waist level. Taking the middle was Helene, who was not as capable in handling a tough situation. Josh took the rear so he could once in a while glance if anything was following them and alert Ricky. Their number one priority over finding the Genome embryo was ensuring each others' survival and wellbeing.

"I know I should feel grateful that we haven't run into anything and all…" Josh spoke breaking the silence. "But doesn't this make you feel anxious?"

Helene glanced back at Josh, "Yes. Now that you mention it…" She replied.

Before Helene could finish, a loud sound of glass breaking interrupted her. Unexpectedly before them stood another Hunter in the midst of a mess of glass shards. Ricky in the front was quick to react and fired a buckshot at the reptilian monstrosity, the force knocking it off its skinny feet. Before the young mercenary could pump his shotgun another Hunter of the same variant leaped from what used to be a window. The reptile shrieked aggressively and lashed out with its razor-sharp claws, catching the dumbfounded mercenary off guard.

"Agh!" Ricky yelled as the creature's claws made contact with his chest, going through his Kevlar vest.

"Shit!" Josh gasped rushing in front and opening fire on the Hunter, the 9mm bullets tearing through its flesh with relative ease. The creature fell back, landing on its back and began convulsing until it let out an agonizing death wail before falling limp. "Rick, you okay?!" Josh asked with great concern, seeing the man hold his chest in pain.

"Look out kid!" Ricky hollered.

Josh was taken aback seeing the first Hunter getting back on its feet and leaping right towards him with its clawed arm extended back. Josh recklessly opened fire on the airborne creature and was able to knock it back down, but expending his latest clip in the process.

"Fuck!" He cussed as he grabbed a fresh clip from his belt and slammed it in and reloaded. But before he was able to take aim the Hunter came rushing at him with an ear piercing war cry. But much to his luck a sudden shot rang out, making the Hunter collapse head first into the ground only inches away from Josh's neck. Taking the opportunity, Josh kicked his foot high and brought it down on the Hunter's neck with a powerful axe kick. The reptilian monster's neck didn't even break as it began to attempt at getting back up, but failed when Josh fired an long burst of shots, reducing the creatures head into a bloody heap.

"Are you okay Ricky?" Helene asked kneeling in front of Ricky.

Ricky winced form the burning sensation in his lower chest. Helene looking down noticed three rather long cuts that had gone through Ricky's Kevlar vest, oozing blood slowly, indicating the wound wasn't mortal, but it could develop worse in time.

"Aw man," Josh groaned seeing the damage. "Can you stand buddy?" He asked worriedly.

"Yea, yea don't worry. I'm okay." Ricky replied with a slightly pained tone as he got back up on his feet, but convulsed forward in pain.

"Okay my ass." Josh spat. "We gotta take care of that before it gets infected."

"Seriously, I'm okay." Ricky replied again. "It just stings a little."

"Even so, I agree with Josh." Helene interjected. "We better find a safe place and have a look at that."

"But…"

"No buts!" Josh retorted demandingly.

Ricky sighed in defeat. They might as well look at his wound instead of wasting precious time arguing. "Alright. But we gotta move now before more of those things show up." He spoke, afterwards kneeling down to pick up his dropped shotgun. "By the way, that was an impressive move." He said to Josh impressed.

"Thanks." Josh replied bluntly. "Now let's got going."

The survivors moved on, Ricky demanding to resume his place at the front. Josh in turn took his place at his side. They maneuvered around the Hunter corpses and now had to find a place where they could temporarily stop to look at the small slash wounds Ricky sustained from the Hunter's swipe. Not too far off they came to a door.

"What room is this?" Josh asked glancing at Helene.

Helene dug out her copy of the map and searched for their current position. "It says here; Diagnosis no.1." She read from the map.

"That's good enough for me." Ricky responded and walked in the door's sensor's range. But as the door opened, he was met by three awaiting, starving zombie researchers. "Or not!" He yelped quickly stepping away from the door. The zombies however were smart enough to continue their pursuit and opened the door upon getting close enough to the door's sensor. They outstretched their arms hungrily and began shuffling at the trio of survivors.

"I've got them." Helene shouted as she took aim and immediately dispatched one of the zombies with a perfect headshot. The second zombie, one which hadn't rotted much except from the side of its face, clad in a male Umbrella researcher's outfit quickly followed as if with reflex, Helene shot it dead as well.

Both Josh and Ricky looked at the Oriental girl in surprise. Never before had she been the first to rush into battle in such a manner. The surprise quickly turned to impress.

"I think you've been hanging around Josh a tad too much." Ricky remarked jokingly.

"Thank you for noticing." Helene laughed lightly.

"So… is clean for you?" Josh asked.

"It'll be fine. I'm just going to spray them a little." Ricky replied curtly.

Upon entering the room, they were suddenly shocked. Inside the room stood what looked like a large glass terrarium with something lying inside. They survivors anxiously approached the terrarium. What they saw inside made them all stare at in horror. It was something none of the three would have never wanted to see. The thing that laid within the glass walls looked a lot like a zombie, but it looked slightly different. The distinguishing feature was its blood red skin, as if it had been practically painted in real blood. Also present in this new creature were small, bony claws that seemed to have sprouted through its fingers and toes. That where the distinguishing features ended. The creature had a decayed head and a bony face, revealing soulless, white eyes and bared, blood drenched teeth, just like any zombie the survivors had seen during the outbreak. The more disturbing factor was that this creature wore no clothes…

"Ugh!" Helene groaned loudly in disgust. "That's _so _gross!!" She exclaimed in terror and disgust.

"What is that thing?!" Josh shouted in utter disgust.

"I for one don't want to know!" Ricky responded shaking his head and turned away from the disgusting sight. "Helene, could you come close enough for me to grab the first-aid spray?" He asked.

Helene kept her back turned to avoid looking at the unknown creature behind them and stepped backwards toward Ricky. The mercenary opened her backpack's side-bag from where he took out the can of Umbrella-brand first-aid spray. He then shed off his Kevlar vest and undid the top four buttons on his shirt which miraculously weren't hit and broken off. He violently shook the can and sprayed the green, cold substance over the slashes, causing him to wince slightly from the stinging sensation. After that he simply buttoned up his slightly torn shirt and put his vest back on.

"Appreciate it." He said and placed the can back into the backpack.

"No problem." Helene replied.

"Feeling better?" Josh asked leaning onto the wall with his arms hanging down limply and one foot touching the wall.

"Yea." Ricky replied with a nod. "It stings a little, but I'll be fine. Now let's get…" He then abruptly paused for an unknown reason.

This elicited a confused look from Josh who stood up back straight again. "Hey, Ricky?" He spoke. "You okay?"

Ricky could hear Josh perfectly, but ignored him, for his ears picked up something of more concern.

"Hellooo?" Josh spoke waving his hand in front of Ricky's face. "Earth to Ricky."

Ricky suddenly hushed sharply. "You hear that?" He whispered.

"Hear what?" Helene asked in equal confusion as Josh.

"Quiet!" Ricky ordered quietly and shot his hand up. "Listen…"

The two younger survivors piped down suddenly. At first neither of them could make out anything. First of the two to notice something wrong was Josh whose ears picked up something. They sounded like heavy, repeating thumps, like heavy footsteps. He began to feel very uneasy, the situation reminding him of a movie he once saw titled Jurassic Park. He clearly remembered when the main characters were in the radio controlled safari vans, which stopped because of a porky hacker's interference. It then got dark and it began to rain heavily, followed by similar thundering footsteps, which revealed to be courtesy of a T-rex. Now he was hearing something so similar and also equally dreadful…

"Ricky…" He whispered fearfully. "I hear it too…"

"Stay quiet and don't make any sudden moves." Ricky instructed strictly, but as quietly as possible.

Now Helene was able to hear it by halting her breathing. Through every passing second the thumps grew louder and more threatening. The survivors did their best to keep their cool and not loose their composure. Whatever made the thundering footsteps had to be large. The survivors began to feel well aware what the footsteps belonged to.

"The Tyrant…" Ricky thought, beginning to feel dread. If the creature knew they were in the room, they would be in big trouble. The Tyrant had already shown its brutality through pummeling a platoon of fully trained sweepers and a pair of Hunters.

Josh had begun to sweat from anxiety. The creature was almost at the door now, its footsteps being loud and clear and if they'd make any sudden noise, it would surely be on them in no time. He began to wonder if it was the end for him. He hated to think of dying in a place so terrifying and malicious. Would he ever see his family and friends again? Would he ever hear another attempted enticement from Amy Tolstoy? Would he be able to fulfill an important promise to one standing in the same room with him frozen in fear? It was probably his time to find out…

Just then the steps stopped. Everyone held their breaths in anticipation. Josh slowly adjusted his grip on his sub-machinegun while Ricky did the same with his shotgun, ready for anything that would bust in on them. It became completely quiet, only the hum of the ventilation system being once again the only source of sound.

"C'mon, show yourself ugly…" Josh mentally dared with his teeth clenched tightly together.

The silence continued. The survivors hadn't dare to even move, even their breathing was slowed enough for it to become soundless. What was the creature waiting for? Was it already aware of the survivors' position? Was it toying with them to make them go crazy over waiting?

"Great, now we're stuck here with a monster outside the door…" Ricky thought angrily. "What the fuck is it up to?"

All of a sudden a loud bang emanated from the door, a huge dent rising from it instantly, startling the survivors enough for Josh and Helene to yell in terror. The electrical door let out sparks as it slowly began to rise, but stopped after opening only a foot high, revealing a pair of large black boots from underneath.

"Oh, crap…" Ricky murmured.

Then a loud crash followed, the wall left from the door came crumbling down. Another crash followed and more debris came flying out. With a final slam, the wall was knocked down, raising a considerable amount of dust. Through the dust stepped forth the very creature they saw back on the upper level, but now there was nothing standing between it and the survivors. It stared down on them with it's glazed over eyes, casting a soulless gaze upon everything.

Helene finally snapped under the pressure. She let out a terrified scream upon seeing the brute. This elicited the brute to slowly plod towards the terrified survivors.

"Shit!" Ricky cussed. "Fire! Fire!" He hollered as he fired the first buckshot into the creature's chest, but the shots didn't even faze it. It simply carried on with its approach.

Josh made his own attempt and fired a stream of hot lead at the Tyrant's chest, getting the same results as Ricky. The monster now decided which of the three to target and headed right for Josh with its pace quickening.

"Fuck." Josh whined fearfully.

The monster was now in striking range and brought both of its arms up and bent its body slightly backwards. Josh could foresee the attack, identified as a haymaker and leapt backwards. The Tyrant brought down its arms with tremendous force behind them, but all it resulted in was a plain 'whoosh' of air. That sound indicated that a single haymaker from the creature resulted in certain death.

"Hey, over here ugly!" Ricky hollered to the Tyrant and aimed upwards at its head. The following blast resulted in the Tyrant slightly staggering to the side. The Tyrant in turn switched its attention to Ricky and retaliated with a backhand, which Ricky just barely managed to dodge. "Get going!" He yelled demandingly to Josh and Helene.

"What?!" Josh exclaimed.

"You heard me! Run!" Ricky ordered strictly while getting some distance away from the Tyrant which now continued to approach him.

"Not on your life man!" Josh retorted. "I'm not leaving you to die!"

"Shut it kid! Just get outta here!" Ricky shouted over the thundering crack of his next shotgun blast that was aimed directly into the Tyrant's face. "Save yourselves!" Ricky staggered quickly over to the gaping hole the Tyrant had made in the wall while the Tyrant covered its pale face with a gloved hand. He was planning on getting the Tyrant to pursue him outside into the hallway so Josh and Helene could make their escape.

"Ricky!" Josh shouted in fear for his friend's life. Throwing down his MP5, Josh then drew his recently acquired Colt Python. Without any second thoughts for his own wellbeing, he aimed for the back of the Tyrant's skull and squeezed off a round, catching the Tyrant exactly where he was aiming, but getting taken aback by the gun's massive recoil.

The Tyrant staggered forward with its head held up high. Blood began oozing from the bullet wound, but it appeared as if the wound meant almost nothing to it. The hulking behemoth turned its attention back to Josh and began approaching him again with an even quicker pace.

"What the fuck are you doing kid?!" Ricky snapped sharply. "It'll kill ya!"

"I know! If it can catch me!" Josh retorted while stepping backwards away from his adversary. "C'mon ugly, I'm right here…" He taunted in order to hide his fear and uphold his composure.

The Tyrant then lashed out with a simple punch from the side, which Josh was able to sidestep. The teen then quickly circled around the Tyrant and fired another shot in its head, making the monster cover its head in pain. Josh could now assume that the Tyrant's only seemingly weak point was the head since neither Ricky's shotgun or his own MP5 could do any type of damage when they fired at its chest.

"Kid, don't play hero! Just listen to me and run!" Ricky demanded while firing another blast at the Tyrant's head himself, getting the same result again.

"No! We're leaving this place together no matter what!" Josh declared firmly.

The Tyrant grunted after taking another shot in the head from Josh's Colt Python. It looked down emotionlessly at the teenager and unexpectedly practically rushed at him and tackled him into the ground forcefully. The teen winced from his bruises doubling the pain in his back and elbows before looking up in terror as the Tyrant brought its foot up to smash him. Before the monster could crush its target, it was bombarded by several shots to the side of its cranium by Ricky's SOCOM, diverting its attention slightly to him. Josh took his given opportunity to roll out from under the monster's boot clad foot.

"That thing's not dying!" Josh shouted in disbelief, having shot the creature three times in the head with one of the most powerful firearms in existence, seeing the monster almost shrug them off.

"Well pointed out kid!" Ricky retorted sarcastically. "That thing's gotta be one of Umbrella's most powerful monsters yet!" He hastily un-strapped his assault rifle and strapped his shotgun around his waist. "Just listen and run!" He demanded in vain, aware of Josh's stubbornness.

Helene couldn't do anything but stand stiff with her back against the wall while looking at the battle between her companions and the huge monster. She was now completely helpless and vulnerable, not having any courage to shoot at the creature, afraid of her awaiting demise that was sure to come claim her if the monster couldn't be stopped. he breathed uncontrollably and trembled throughout the gunfire, inhuman grunts and arguments between Josh and Ricky. They were at the monster's mercy, their weapons doing from little to almost no damage. She urged to look towards the hole made in the wall by the Tyrant, their only escape path, but the Tyrant would undoubtedly pursue them even if they fled. But they had to do something or they would never catch her father's murderer.

"Father…" Helene thought in grief. She had to fulfill the promise she had made to her father with Josh and Ricky. If she were to die, she would fail him…

"Die you son of a bitch!" Josh hollered furiously as he squeezed off two more rounds at the Tyrant before his gun ran dry. He then had to duck and roll away from a right uppercut launched at him.

Ricky took distance from the Tyrant and let loose a rapid-fire flurry of hot lead aimed at the inhuman brute. The bullets tore away at its leather jacket, but the bullets had little effect, except making the monster forcefully bend forward. The monster shrugged it off just as it had from almost all the attacks it had sustained and continued pursuing Josh who had been given enough time for reloading his magnum. As Josh began to take distance form the Tyrant, it quickly brought up its foot and kicked Josh forcefully in the rear, making the youth stagger forward uncontrollably and fall prostrated to the floor.

"Josh!" Ricky gasped in terror as the Tyrant lifted the teenager by the back of his head. The teen yelled in pain from the pressure applied to his cranium, kicking wildly. Ricky had to act fast before the Tyrant would do something to end Josh's life for good. The mercenary unsheathed his large combat knife and charged at the behemoth. He lunged at the monster and drove the shiny blade right into the monster's right eye, instantly making the monster drop Josh and stagger backwards in pain with purplish ooze gushing from its eye-socket.

"Josh, you alright?!" Ricky asked whilst observing for any signs of blood.

"Y-yea…" Josh stuttered rubbing his head. "How did you…?"

Before Josh could fully comprehend what had happened, the enraged Tyrant took hold of the knife lodged in its eye and yanked it out, causing more purplish ooze to spurt until a sickening tear of flesh sounded and its eye was immediately replaced by a new one. Josh and Ricky could only stare in disbelief as the Tyrant tossed the knife aside and began rushing at them.

"Scatter!" Josh exclaimed as he leapt up and ran to the side with Ricky doing the same in the opposite direction, causing the Tyrant to look and decide which one to go after.

The Tyrant shifted its gaze at Josh and once again chose him as its intended target. The monster began to approach him, but Josh was now ready for it. Having taken aim at its head before it began its approach; Josh fired a shot that connected with the Tyrant's brand-new regenerated eye. The monster covered its eye in pain, giving Josh a chance to slip by through its blind-spot. But the Tyrant wasn't going to give up despite having a severely injured eye. It punched out recklessly with its right arm, catching Josh in the chest and made him slam into the wall.

"Josh! You alright?!" Ricky called out in concern. That's when he realized they were one person short. "Where's Helene?!" He gasped, seeing only her Steyr AUG on the floor.

Josh growled in pain as he too noticed Helene's absence. But he couldn't focus on it for too long as the Tyrant's eye seemed to regenerate again, judging from the increased spurting of its purplish blood and sick tearing of flesh. The Tyrant began its retaliation and charged at Josh with a shoulder tackle. Josh had enough time to jump out of the way, lading painfully on his own arm, which was now bruised in several places besides the bandaged part of his arm. The Tyrant struck nothing but the wall, denting it severely to prove even more how powerful it was. As payback for his injured friend, Ricky trained his assault rifle while the Tyrant was recovering from its last attack, but he was taken aback by a sudden explosion that covered the monster's chest for a split second. A projectile came flying at the monster and exploded on impact, making the Tyrant stagger yet again. That was followed by the sounds of reloading.

"Helene?!" Ricky gasped in amazement, seeing the Oriental girl wielding an M79 grenade launcher, probably the same one they found back at the surveillance room. The girl swiftly fastened another round into the gun and closed it, taking aim at the Tyrant again.

Josh couldn't believe the event unfolding before his eyes. Though not experienced with almost any weaponry, Helene was utilizing a powerful grenade launcher against the Tyrant with such skill as if she'd been doing it before in her life. The sight encouraged Josh to stand up and stand flank next to Helene. squeezing off another round from his magnum, catching the still recovering Tyrant in the forehead. Ricky also moved my the situation trained his M4A1 and fired what was left of his current clip before reloading. Helene launched her third explosive round from her launcher, striking the Tyrant point-blank in the face, charring it black in an instant and forced the Tyrant into bumping onto the wall behind it. The survivors were not going to let the chance slip by and continued bombarding the behemoth with all they had with a cacophony of explosions, thundering bangs and rapid-fire. After firing at the monster nonstop for over ten seconds, it finally fell prostrated to the ground, battered and charred with its once shiny jacket scorched and smoldering.

The survivors could finally lay down their arms. They stared at the smoldering remains of the mighty Tyrant in awe at what they had just achieved. Ricky and Josh finally hollered in victory and gave each other a high-five.

"Yea!" Ricky cheered to his heart's content. "Oh thank you Lord Almighty! Yes!" He shouted to the heavens with his hands held high.

"Helene…" Josh looked at Helene dumbstruck. "D-did you just do _that_?" He stuttered in disbelief. Never did he imagine Helene of all people to save both him and Ricky form such a dire situation, let alone handle a weapon as powerful as a grenade launcher. "Christ that was awesome!" He shouted emphatically.

Helene looked up at Josh, not seemingly as overjoyed compared to him. She looked back down at the weapon she just instinctively retrieved in her state of fear. Next thing she knew, she was back in the room where chaos had ensued and took down the brutal Tyrant without any experience with her new weapon. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It could have been her ambition of rescuing her two friends, especially Josh since now he was the only person she could ever get close to.

Helene shut her eyes in thought. A small smile formed on her face and opened them, looking Josh straight in his blue eyes. "I guess drastic times call for drastic measures." She grinned innocently. Her current expression made her look rather adorable in Josh's opinion.

"Or you've seriously been around me too much." Josh remarked with a hearty laugh. This elicited a few giggles from Helene, who still held onto the grenade launcher almost unknowingly.

"Yea, what a way to go 'Mrs. Ellington'." Ricky complimented from the side, making Josh cringe in embarrassment.

"Oh shut up!" Josh retorted. "Besides, we still gotta go catch the guy who murdered Dr. Nayami!" He added grimly.

Ricky suddenly put his mind on their task at hand. "Good point." He replied in a more solemn manner. "Let's move on." He said and began walking out of the room, signaling Josh and Helene to follow.

-

Littman finally found his way to what used to be Dr. Igor Stepanovitch's workroom. The room's interior had a white coloration and looked much like an office. Adjacent to the heavy metallic door were two file shelves and at the back was a table that had been bolted to the wall that reached all the way from the left side of the room to the right. Placed in the middle was Stepanovitch's laptop which according to Harris' superiors contained valuable information on the facility and Stepanovitch's personal research. Also present on the long table were many piles of papers. The information contained within the laptop and the reports were without doubt vital for the completion of his given assignment as a Supervisor.

"Let's just see what you've been keeping here Stepanovitch." Harris mused as he approached the laptop. At first the room felt devoid of any possible dangers, but upon taking a few steps, Harris Littman heard that all too familiar groan.

Quickly turning to the side, Littman saw a hunched being that once used to be Dr. Igor Vladim Stepanovitch. What remained of the doctor was now his rotting cadaver that had been brought back from the dead by the very same virus infesting the entire city aboveground. His skin had turned a sickly pale-grey and lacked the large spectacles he was portrayed with in a photo shown to Harris before being dispatched. Overall, not much had changed about him in addition to his skin, his head remained bald, but it didn't shine in the strong lighting of the workstation like it had before. The zombiefied doctor looked up at Littman with his soulless glazed eyes. What happened next was very usual for any T-virus affected human, Stepanovitch opened his mouth and with a guttural moan lunged at Harris, but the hardened assassin was too quick and fired a single shotgun blast, the force sending the walking cadaver slamming into the wall behind it and slumping down and finally falling on its side.

"Pathetic." Harris scoffed looking down at the remains of the head of the facility. "You were a prick already, so no need to go overdoing it." He quipped lowering his shotgun. He turned his attention back to the laptop, "Now let's see what kinda goods you got waiting for me." He mused stepping over to it and accessing it. Much to his annoyance, the computer denied his access due to its highly sophisticated security system. "Hmm, a minor setback…" Littman thought and took out from his sidepack a small device the size of a TV-remote. The supervisor yanked from it a cord and linked the device into Stepanovitch's laptop. He then pressed some buttons on the device. In a matter of seconds the laptop's security system was bypassed and before Littman opened all of Stepanovitch's personal files. The most fascinating one was the one titled 'Project Genome'. "Very interesting…" Littman mused as he opened the file and found all the detailed information and procedures regarding the creation of his intended target.

"C'mon, where're you keeping it?" Littman mused scrolling down on the file, ignoring the disgusting photos of the embryo and the test subject used in the project. After scrolling down Stepanovitch's own personal views of the project, he came out with nothing of use to him. "Dammit!" Littman growled slamming his fist on the table furiously. He then looked down on the various written reports scattered across the table. "Don't think you can hide the embryo from me Stepano-bitch!" He quipped angrily as he began scanning through the reports with intent.

Little did Littman know of the key that had fallen out of Dr. Stepanovitch's pocket upon taking impact on the wall. It was a circular key very small in size, only a few inches. He was also fully unaware that a person present in the facility along with him carried one exactly the same as this particular key…

-

The three Raccoon City survivors continued with their pursuit of Dr. Nayami's murderer. They walked in a quickened pace to not waste too much time loitering in the narrow halls of the facility. They knew their mission and were intent in fulfilling it no matter what the odds. They had been trapped like scared little mice with the predators closing in, but they retained the courage to fight on, for their lives, for their futures and for each other. They didn't know what was awaiting them when they reached the deepest confines of the facility, but they were ready for it.

"The elevators should be close-by now…" Ricky informed looking at the map with his SPAS-12 held by its frame in his other hand. "Remember. We're going down where this cold blooded killer is, so keep your eyes peeled. He'll shoot you without warning for all we know." He explained as strictly as he could. "Our lives are now on the line."

"Tell us something we don't know…" Josh mused quietly, tightly clasping his MP5. He had gone from the hellish aboveground Raccoon City all the way down to one of Umbrella's secret facilities dedicated to the varied usage of the very virus that destroyed the once peaceful mountain community. Despite feeling dismayed and terrified of all he had seen in his short time in the city limits, he was intent on surviving this nightmare and getting back home no matter what he'd come across. He was accompanied by two good people who wanted to do the same for each other and for themselves. "But what scares me more is not some man clad in combat gear. It's the other thing…" He thought, remembering what abomination was contained deep inside the facility.

-

It finally opened its eyes. After what felt like an eternity in darkness, it was able to see for the first time in its new existence. Its vision however was blurred through the somewhat-watery liquid it was surrounded by. All it could hear was the humming of the machinery around it and its deep breathing through a black breathing mask strapped over its face. It was getting impatient. It wanted out, to freedom. To freedom where it could begin its new life bent on massacre and destruction. It stiffened its muscles in its arms, but still felt too weak to break out into the world around it. It needed time, but its patience was growing thin…

-

A/N: Well, that's another keeper. I hurried it as fast as I could, but still made sure about the quality of my vocabulary and the plot. Now we'll see how the three survivors make it down to pursue Littman who has unknowingly stumbled across something seemingly important. What do you all think it is? Sorry, but that's going to have to be revealed in the later chapters.

Interesting fact: This chapter's title was made up from the song title: "Would You Love a Monsterman?", a song written and sung by the Finnish hardrock/heavymetal group Lordi.

Chapter 25, woo! This is already the longest story I've written in my young, confusing life, but I assure you it's still far from over. This story will be at least thirty or so chapters long, so don't think I'm closing the curtains yet. There's still many answers to solve and much bloodshed to come. This has got to be one of my most action packed chapters, I hope it was intense enough for ya'll. Look out for chapter 26. And remember, the nightmare's far from over…


	26. Chapter 26: Devils of the Underworld

Chapter 26: Devils of the Underworld

"C'mon Stepanovitch! Surely you had to leave something to tell me where you're keeping it…" Littman mused as he looked through the various documents in Dr. Stepanovitch's personal workroom. So far the ex-military assassin wasn't having any luck in finding even the smallest piece of information on the location of the final remaining non-used Genome embryo in the world. "This is seriously starting to piss me off enough as it is." He grumbled before forcefully throwing a handful of documents to the floor and starting off on another one.

Littman hurriedly scanned through the computer-written text, none of the sets of words mentioning anything about the location of the embryo. His activity was beginning to feel very frustrating and not to mention pointless as the amount of documents was quickly dwindling down. After scanning the last sheets of paper, Littman stomped the ground aggressively before turning his attention to the zombie of Dr. Stepanovitch. The Supervisor approached the corpse and kicked it violently.

"Thanks to you son-of-a-bitch I can't start getting the fuck outta this dump!" Littman roared as he continued kicking and stomping the doctor's lifeless body, causing its head to bob or its arms and legs to switch their positions limply. "Be glad you were already dead. Cuz otherwise I would've killed you so slowly and so painfully, you would've begged for death."

With no success in finding any possible leads, the infuriated Supervisor left the room, slamming the door shut behind him violently. Soon after Littman's leave, the corpse of Dr. Stepanovitch began to look as if it was turning a shade of reddish, very slowly…

-

The three Raccoon survivors continued their pursuit. Only a short while ago they had gone through what was probably the hardest ordeal up until now; a battle between them and a large Umbrella creation dubbed by Dr. Nayami as a Tyrant. The monster had been successful at diminishing a small portion of their ammo supply, but the three were still good to go for now and the sweeper's activities in the facility gave them good chances to loot their dead comrades for spares. They were heading down the stuffy hallway with Ricky retaining his role as the trio's front-man.

All of a sudden they once again saw a reinforced pane of glass on the right-side wall shatter in front of them, yet another Hunter leaping out. Like any Hunter they'd seen up to this point, the reptilian monstrosity came rushing at them recklessly. However, it didn't have much time before getting blown down by a shotgun blast courtesy of Ricky. The blast unfortunately wasn't enough to kill it, indicated by the reptile attempting to stand back up, but the attempt was thwarted by another blast to its head, ending the monster's life. After letting out a weary sigh Ricky chambered a new shell.

"This is going to take forever if this keeps up." He groaned.

"Tell me about it." Josh remarked. "Feels like we'll be stuck in this dump for days…"

Their stroll truly had been progressing slower than anticipated. With the constant danger of being ambushed by monsters, the two most common ones being either Lickers or Hunters, the survivors had been forced to take a slow pace. But they also had to hurry down into the next level in pursuit of Dr. Jonouchi Nayami's, Helene's father's murderer.

"We for one don't have that kind of time." Ricky added with a curt nod. "As soon as that bastard finds that accursed Genome thing, not only will we be breaking a promise to a dead man, but our loss will be Umbrella's gain."

"You're right." Josh concurred. "We gotta get moseying or we'll never find him." He said demandingly.

"I know. But we won't be doing anything if we get ourselves hacked. Remember what happened back there? And I'm wearing bullet-proof armor." Ricky asked.

How could anyone forget that? A short while ago Ricky was simply swiped by one of the Hunter B.O.Ws and received three gashes on his upper torso despite wearing a vest that was designed to protect against anything so feeble, but with the awesome strength of the Hunters and the sharpness of their claws it slashed right through the Kevlar like tissue paper. Hadn't Ricky been wearing his body armor, he surely would have been inflicted with a far more severe injury or probably would have even gotten killed.

"Yea," Josh nodded, "But we gotta get down there before he gets back up here right?" Josh asked.

"No buts kid." Ricky snapped. "We will catch him, I'm sure of it. We're not the only ones being hunted down by these freaks and not to mention the fact he's alone."

"I suppose you're right." Josh replied understandingly. With the three of them they had often had the edge in combat in numbers while their target was alone. "It should slow him down." Josh figured. "I mean, as far as I know soldiers, there's no way a simple U.B.C.S can move on that fast alone, right?"

They then came across what appeared to be two sweeper corpses. One laid on its back with its limbs sprawled out limply and a large gash on his throat, which had been leaking a lot of blood up until it had congealed. Around six feet ahead laid another corpse with its head blown clean off; definitely something Umbrella's creations weren't capable of.

"Looks like this guy had his throat cut out by a knife." Josh mused looking down at the first corpse.

"How can you tell?" Helene asked.

"See that?" Josh asked indicating the slash. "There's only one slash here, so it's only possible to be done with a knife."

"Right." Helene replied uneasily. "I suppose you were taught how to tell how someone died huh?"

"Nah, I'm not into autopsy." Josh replied nonchalantly. "It's just very obvious considering the muties here have more than one finger." He concluded, making Helene feel very sheepish upon realizing what she'd said.

"Me and my big mouth…" She grumbled maneuvering around the corpse.

"I assume even you two know who did this?" Ricky asked while relieving the headless sweeper of his assault rifle clips.

"Yes, I figured it's the work of that scumbag." Josh replied sternly with great contempt. The man they were looking for had put Helene through intolerant pain, breaking her and her father's earthly bonds forever. Despite his decision of not carrying out the principles of a soldier, Josh now felt willing enough to put a bullet through the culprit's skull.

"Hmm…" Ricky took a closer look at the bloodstains of the two corpses. "Good, looks like it hasn't been too long before he passed through here."

"How do you know?" Josh asked curiously.

"The blood doesn't look much congealed yet. These guys have been dead for at least and hour or so." Ricky explained briefly.

"Probably point-men huh?" Josh asked.

"I guess." Ricky shrugged. "C'mon let's move on."

They continued on past the corpses. What they encountered when approaching a T-intersection was a lone Hunter corpse, this one having a series of small prominent holes all around its chest with blood having trickled out all of them. This indicated a shotgun blast having been the one to kill the monster.

"At least we now know what that guy's armed with." Ricky thought looking down on the corpse before digging out his copy of the map. "Whoever he is, he's gotta be good to have gotten this far alone…"

He traced his index finger along the corridor he and his companions had walked through. The T-intersection lead into two opposite directions at first, both of them leading to another research quarter further down, but in the midst they both also took a turn around a large room dubbed as Autopsy #2. The turns then formed together to continue forward which led to a small opening where the two elevator's were located.

"Good news. We just gotta go around this and we're that much closer to reaching the elevator." Ricky announced gesturing towards the wall in front of him.

"Alright. Lead the way Rick." Josh replied.

The survivors didn't need to worry which direction they were to go in the intersection, so they took the left turn and just like it showed on their maps, another turn, this one leading right came into view. Taking this turn the survivors stumbled upon a duo of zombies, both appearing to be maintenance men judging form the blue overalls they had on stained with blood and other bodily fluids in addition to the grease and oil stains. Ricky closed the distance between him and the closest zombie and aimed his shotgun at the cadaver's head, obliterating it completely with a bloody burst in an instant. As he chambered another shell, Josh took the chance to show off his skill with his MP5 and with a single well aimed shot ended the second zombie's suffering.

"Too fast for that one eh?" Josh asked with a playful grin.

"Knock it off kid. I've had enough of 'em as it is." Ricky grumbled as he walked past the teen.

Before Ricky was able to reach the end of that portion of the corridor, around the corner hobbled another rotting remnant, this one dressed in a white lab coat that had been severely torn and stained by dry blood. The zombie's skull's half had been somehow blown off, exposing dark red and purplish sinew underneath in addition to an empty eye socket.

"Aw! Fuck! That's the grossest thing I've seen!" Ricky hollered and instantly blew the zombie's already hideously deformed face into bloody chunks, causing the rest of its body to fall back limply.

The zombie unfortunately was not alone. Yet another zombie came crawling towards the young mercenary. Upon rounding the corner, crawling became the wrong word to use. The zombie was dragging what was left of itself with its arms, its body lacking everything under the waistline. Bloody pieces of flesh and long strings of intestines were being dragged behind it, some of them leaking out stomach juices. The sight almost made all three survivors feel like puking on the spot. Ricky instantly performed a low side kick that snapped the legless zombie's neck and almost tore its entire head off but was still held together slightly by the remnants of skin and tissue.

"Aw man…" Josh groaned in disgust. "Please for the love of God let me forget that!" He plead desperately, feeing the bile rise up his esophagus.

"Double or nothing man!" Ricky winced. "If the smell doesn't get to me enough, that's just overkill!" He shouted frustrated.

"Helene, please tell me you didn't see that!" Josh spoke, hoping Helene had been lucky enough not to experience the gut wrenching sight.

"A glimpse, but I don't think I'll forget it either…" Helene replied meekly and peeked from between her fingers timidly.

The survivors hurried to get past the nauseating sight, not even daring to get close to the first legless but now also headless corpse. Upon rounding the corner they continued forth until they came to a left turn where the corridor surrounding the Autopsy #2 room came together. They found another battered sweeper lying in the midst of the corridor with a large indentation of a boot on his collapsed chest. The survivors finally reached a pair of sliding elevator doors.

"Finally," Josh thought approaching the left set of doors, only to find a card reader placed besides it. "Shoot! It needs a card key."

"No need to worry about that kid." Ricky said with a smirk. He clearly remembered back in the chemical storage facility when he entered the dark room containing inhumanely butchered remains of security guards and an Umbrella Inc. cardkey. Reaching up to his smallest compartment on his vest, he produced the card, only to change his look into pure dismay upon looking at the plastic card. "Oh God! No, no!!" He shouted in disbelief.

"What's wrong?!" Helene asked with a worried expression.

"Those lizard freaks broke the keycard!" Ricky shouted furiously. "Look, see?!" He asked, forcefully presenting the card having a part of its code-line chipped off. "Aw dammit!" He hollered as he forcefully chucked the card onto the ground, making Helene cringe in surprise.

"Calm down!" Josh shouted jerking a hand towards Ricky. "We're in an Umbrella facility, there's bound to be more of those cards." He spoke reassuringly.

Ricky took many deep breaths before calming down and regaining his composure. That had been probably the most forceful outburst he'd done in quite a while, feeling foolish having done it in front of two weary and confused teenagers.

"Sorry." He said meekly. "This incident's starting to take its toll on me too…"

"Hey no sweat man, we know how you feel." Josh replied nonchalantly. "But hey, just take a minute or two of time out, okay."

Ricky shut his eyes tiredly added with another deep sigh. The fact of discovering the condition of the cardkey he'd been carrying around still managed to exasperate him, but he was feeling much calmer now. He decided on a self pact of not showing weakness again in front of his companions, who needed his skills to survive.

"Thanks kiddo." Ricky spoke more relieved. "Now with my sanity back, for now, we better put your idea into action."

"Yes we should." Josh concurred. "There's gotta be over dozens of workers carrying cardkeys. Hell, maybe we should just find a zombie, blast it and search it." Josh explained, making Helene shudder at the thought of even getting deliberately close to a zombie, let alone touch them.

"Or hope someone left one out in the open." Helene silently remarked.

"What was that?" Josh asked curiously with a raised brow.

"Nothing." Helene promptly replied.

The survivors backtracked until they came to the same section of corridor where the terribly dismembered zombies still laid, their stench causing the entire surrounding area to reek of their rotten flesh and intestines added with one's bile. The smell forced Helene to squeeze her nose shut in disgust. Luckily for her they decided to inspect the room which doors they were standing right in front of. The door opened with the familiar hiss of hydraulics, exposing a small space before another similar door. Right beside the door was a numerical keypad and a card reader, but it had been opened from underneath with wires sloppily pulled out and a few sets of them linked together just barely, letting out occasional sparks every now and then.

"Hotwired huh?" Josh wondered. "These guys are good…"

The door opened upon their advance, revealing a very dim room, as if the lights had been intentionally made to be so that anyone who entered would instantly feel dreadful once inside the room. The lights added a faint sickly green glow, adding up the quality of dread. Placed right in the middle of the room for everyone to see was another fairly larger operating table, possibly designed for large specimens. Normally seeing a plain table wouldn't have frightened the survivors almost at all, but with something covered by a green plastic blanket resting on the table was a different story. Set around the table were more carts for surgical tools, some of them knocked over, spreading the instruments everywhere on the cold metal floor. Also present in the room was a long dead corpse slumped to the left side wall, which was person in a hazmat suit, with his or her head missing. Also present at the back of the room were many highly sophisticated surgical machines, such as a camera monitor, a computer module and many other instruments none of the survivors knew anything about. To the right were metallic shelves bolted to the wall where more surgical items and chemicals were stored. Also just beside the survivors was a row of containers with a biohazard symbol on all of them. Josh figured they were used for disposing of infected tools or possibly even organs…

"Okay, now I'm scared shitless…" Josh spoke with one hand on his stomach.

"No joke kid. It's like Dr. Frankenstein, only in the twentieth century…" Ricky replied quietly as he took a slow step forward.

All three survivors had the same mind of taking a quick look around the autopsy room. Josh inspected the decapitated corpse immediately, mostly out of curiosity on what did the person in. Disgusted as he was, he conjured up enough courage to look at the neck, showing familiar signs of a displaced spine, trachea and esophagus and torn skin.

"Lickers, no doubt it." He concluded his hypothesis. Upon further inspection he found no weapons on the person. "That explains why it's almost spotless." He mused, afterwards catching a glimpse of something inches away from the person's limp hand. "What's this?" He wondered reaching for the flat object. "Sweet Jesus, did we already catch a lucky break?" He wondered.

Opposite from Josh was Helene uncomfortably looking at all the scalpels, scissors, tweezers and other various surgical instruments she hadn't even seen before. On one shelf she found a large bottle of formaldehyde and other embalming and tissue fixing reagents. The room was beginning to strongly remind her of a morgue rather than a research facility.

Ricky in turn slowly, almost as if he was mesmerized approached the operating table. He didn't know even himself why he was so drawn to the object lying on the table. Was it plain curiosity? Why would he want to see even more of Umbrella's horrors? He reached out and tightly took a hold of the plastic covers. He swallowed with dread before forcefully yanking the covers off.

"Jesus Christ!" He suddenly hollered in terror, causing Josh and Helene to jump up from surprise.

"What the fuck?! What's the matter Rick…" Josh exaggeratedly asked pointing his MP5 in Ricky's direction, but as soon as he saw what his friend did, his eyes widened in horror. "Good Lord…" He whispered.

Helene in turn screamed and turned to look away with her hands covering her eyes. What she saw was something she had never wanted to even imagine.

Lying on the table was the remains of the mysterious red skinned creature they'd seen in the room where they were ambushed by the Tyrant. Only now the autopsy procedures made it look far more terrifying than it was when lying prostrated on the ground. This particular individual had its skull, yes its whole skull removed from all around, exposing nothing but a human brain and some remnants of the back of its head. Stretching down from the brain was the spinal column which disappeared down into the specimen's neck. The specimen had been dissected all the way from the chest to the torso, revealing the absence of the ribcage and of one lung. Almost all of the intestines had been abruptly left piled up prominently on the groin. The creature's eyes and other removed organs had been left beside the dissected corpse. The most disturbing fact was some sort of device jammed forcefully into the specimen's brain.

Ricky instantly turned and rushed to the door, but he abruptly slumped down on his knees and threw up on the floor. Horrified to his limits, Josh pocketed the object he'd found and rushed to his friend's aid. He took hold of the back of Ricky's sweater to force him up. The young mercenary unsteadily almost toppled on Josh form dizziness, but the teen was able to maintain from collapsing from his friend's weight. He steadily maneuvered Ricky around the puddle of bile and ingested food and helped him out of the nightmarish room. They were quickly followed by Helene who ran out of the room the instant she caught a glimpse of her companions.

"Damn, you're heavy…" Josh gruffly remarked as he helped his friend sit down on the floor, the stench of the corpses from around the corner not fazing them this time. "Just relax dude. We're outta there." Josh spoke assuredly.

"Mother… of… God…" Ricky coughed and breathed quickly, the room feeling as if it was spinning around him. He continued feeling nauseous, but did his best to keep in the contents of his stomach.

"Ricky, are you alright?" Helene asked with deep concern kneeling beside Ricky.

"In a…" Ricky replied, but suddenly felt ill again and instantly flanked to the side and threw up again, making Josh and Helene look away in disgust. Ricky retained his position and spat some leftover bile before continuing, "Okay, now I am. Hey Josh, could you give me some water?"

With a nod Josh slung his backpack off and dug out one of the two bottles of spring water. "It's not all that cold though…" He spoke.

"That's fine. As long as it's plain H2O." Ricky quipped grabbing the bottle from Josh's hand, opening it and poured some of the room temperature water into his mouth to avoid spreading germs. He took another gulp before screwing the top back on and handing it back to Josh. "That feels better. So now do we have any bright ideas?" He asked.

"Well, I'm happy to say, that venture in the hall of horrors was not all bad." Josh remarked. "Voila!" He presented the small object he'd found on the body of the dead researcher.

In the more adequate lighting, the object was revealed as another Umbrella security keycard. Ricky instantly smiled with confidence and stood up, gently swiping the key from Josh's hand.

"Sweet work. That was worth emptying my gut for." He curtly quipped.

The survivors now stocked with a new keycard approached the set of elevators once more. With a swipe through the card reader, the machine let out a loud beep. The hum of machinery permeated weakly through the steel doors, indicating the elevator was automatically ascending.

"They've gotta have some really important stuff down there to have that kind of security." Josh thought eyeing the elevator doors in case something was going to jump out.

The hum became louder until it finally stopped and a higher pitched beep emanated from the card reader. The two steel doors slid open, revealing a circular elevator capacity. With no second thoughts the survivors entered and pressed the button marked B3. The doors automatically shut and upon the start of mechanical humming, the elevator began its descent.

The ride down was once again quiet. All three survivors were looking in different direction, deliberately avoiding eye contact with each other. Josh stared up at the bright lights on the roof, letting out a weary yawn. He blinked his eyes tiredly until he shut them tightly before opening them again. He didn't want to risk infecting his eyes with something from rubbing them with his filthy fingers. Helene looked down at the floor or either her weapon with a sorrowful look on her face. She too felt weary, but also felt anxious on what was going to happen next. Any different situation or surrounding she had so far been thrown into made her experience the same feeling. The city what once was her new home away from Japan had become a place where no one and nothing was safe. It didn't take much thought to conclude what was causing it. Ricky in turn kept his eyes fixed on the elevator doors with his new SPAS-12 readied to fire upon anything unfriendly that were to ambush them once they reached their destination. Before they could get accustomed, the elevator came to a stop. The double doors opened, revealing surroundings very similar to the ones above. The surroundings remained cold and metallic in addition to being slightly darker.

Stepping out of the elevator first, Ricky immediately stumbled upon a decapitated zombie and loads of blood splattered on the wall.

"Either him or the sweepers I suppose." Ricky thought.

"Man, dragging these two cases is starting to be a pain." Josh groaned carrying the heavy case found in Stepanovitch's office.

"Definitely." Helene remarked.

Ricky looked back at the kids and took a look at the surroundings. "Hey, you could leave them here for now." Ricky said motioning at a corner before a corridor.

"Are you sure about that man?" Josh asked raising a brow. "What if the bastard snatches them behind our back?"

"Better that than ending up as something's next lunch." Ricky replied.

"Do you think we should at least take one anti-virus vial along with us just in case?" Helene asked suggestively.

"That's not a bad idea." Ricky replied. He extended his hand to Helene who gave him the plastic case containing the two remaining anti-virus vials and the jet injector. He knelt down opening the case and loaded one vial into the injector. "There. Now if one of us is bitten we'll have this handy." He handed the loaded injector to Helene, afterwards closing the case and placing it in the corner. "You best put that in your bag." He told Helene.

With a shrug Josh placed the larger and heavier metal case in the corner too. Now with their heavy load left behind they had better access to their arsenal. The survivors headed down the corridor, each with their weapon ready to unleash upon any attackers to come. After a good fifteen feet the corridor rounded left. Suddenly the survivors were startled by a muffled sound. To them, it was very similar to that of gunfire. They all froze in their tracks listening intently. When the sound stopped, it started again, permeating through the hollow corridors.

"You hear that?" Ricky asked quietly.

"Yea." Josh nodded in response. "And I think it's getting louder…" He added uneasily. Normally in a situation like this gunfire would have been counted as a good thing, but being inside enemy grounds could easily prove otherwise. "Good God, what if they're sweepers?" He asked quietly, retaining his composure despite the possible fix they'd just put themselves in.

"Only one way to find out." Ricky remarked. "We gotta move on, but stay behind me. If I get in trouble, you run." Ricky added very demandingly.

"Hey wait a minute!" Josh hissed indignantly, but was immediately silenced by a sharp glance from the young mercenary.

Ricky sharply hushed Josh into silence before authoritatively demanded, "Go around the corner and don't come out until I say so."

Josh groaned with disappointment before dragging himself and Helene around the corner. Josh however had his own ambitions to deal with the sweepers. Remembering that his MP5 was equipped with a suppressor, he could fire from his hiding spot without Ricky knowing. He knelt down back against the wall, peeking past the wall cautiously.

"Helene, you better stay back." He spoke flatly, afterwards raising his sub-machinegun and prepared for a jump-out shot. "This might get ugly…" He remarked. His gaze around the corner did not waver and his eyes didn't even seem to blink. He was in a possible situation where he might ruin his so far clear kill record, the feeling making his stomach turn, but he had to help Ricky, even if he were to resort to killing.

"What the fuck does it matter anyway?" He asked himself in thought. "If I'll ever even become a cop, I'll still have to shoot people…" He swallowed hard before straightening his thoughts. "No turning back now…" He concluded with his finger ready to pull down on the trigger.

Ricky knelt down defensively against the wall, placing down his SPAS-12 for now and un-strapped his M4A1 once again to get a better shot if the sweepers were intentionally approaching him and his companions. He quickly made sure his current clip had enough bullets before training the gun towards the end of the corridor. Seeming calm and collected, deep down he was afraid of what he might have been up against. His enemies were not mutants from Umbrella's research, but living human soldiers. Elites of Umbrella's military to be exact. The U.S.S were without a doubt much better at assaults than Ricky, not having taken part in any mission while serving in SEALs, therefore he had no experience in fighting human opponents. He had shot and killed one of Umbrella's earlier on the uppermost level of the research facility, but that was only because of his advantage he had. Now his opponents were the ones with the advantage, knelt against the wall in the open with considerate range.

The rapid fire had ceased for now, but that didn't mean Ricky and his companions were safe yet. It was very unlikely the sweepers had died; actually it was impossible for the lack of their screams of pain and agony. No one in Raccoon City was allowed a peaceful or quick demise. All around town even at the very moment, once surviving individuals were probably being torn to shreds by the hordes of zombies aboveground. No matter where the three survivors had gone, they all saw the corpses of individuals cheated from a painless death, forced to suffer as their flesh and organs were torn off and out their bodies and devoured before the same process repeated. Now that he thought of it, he'd seen this kind of horror on TV a few times. It was when he'd been up all night watching classic horror movies during last Halloween. He wasn't particularly fond of George A. Romero's Dead-movies, especially the two colored ones, but amongst horror movie fanatics, those movies were considered doubtless masterpieces.

"Yea right, a masterpiece is something where you see people getting their guts torn out?" He wondered with disbelief. "Some people just have sick minds if you ask me." He thought as he tried to remain calm in case he was to be approached by the enemy. "Only reason I watched those was so I could have a laugh. But boy was that a wrong thought to bring up…" He still recalled having nightmares after dozing off on his couch, never having known those nightmares were to become a reality.

After a few minutes had passed, nothing was heard apart from the hum of the room's internal cooling system which gave the facility an even creepier atmosphere. Josh could feel his hands and lips shiver not having moved for a while. Goosebumps were forming on his arms without his once comfortable jacket to keep him warm.

"C'mon, what's taking those assholes?" He wondered in desperation, unable to control his shivering.

"Josh, are you alright?" Helene asked concerned after noticing Josh's behavior. "You look cold."

"Really, you think?" Josh sarcastically retorted. "It's damn freezing down here…" He shuddered rubbing his right arm with his left hand. "If this keeps up I'll have hypothermia for sure." He thought as he continued peeking around the corner.

The survivors continued to wait, all three of them beginning to feel the cold air around them brush against their skin. Ricky remained in his position, his aim having wavered. Helene had began to breathe onto her fingers, the warm exhale warming up her fingers for a split second before rubbing them against her upper arms. Josh's shivering had become more and more severe. His expression began to seem pained from forced to sit in those surroundings for too long. He'd bundled up with his arms crossed and his upper legs pressed against them.

Helene couldn't stand looking at Josh suffering anymore, she went around the corner and called out to Ricky, "Ricky, Josh is starting to freeze back here!" She looked back down at Josh who looked up at her, noticing how Josh's teeth were beginning to clatter uncontrollably. "We need to get a move on before he gets sick!"

Ricky heard his friend's predicament cloud and clear. He hadn't heard almost anything except some gunfire from farther away. Unlike Josh he was wearing a sweater which allowed him to stay warm. It was pretty much the same for Helene who was also wearing a sweater, but all Josh had to keep his upper body warm was a plain green Adidas t-shirt.

Finally getting up from his position, Josh hurried over to Josh and knelt beside him. "Kid, I'm sorry for that. I guess paranoia got to me." He apologetically said.

"Whatever you overprotective bastard…" Josh shivered, urging a small smile which only lasted a second. "Now let's get moseying before I freeze to death!" He demanded, quickly rising to his feet.

"We gotta find something to keep you warm. You can't move around in those duds down here." Ricky said as he took out the B3 map of the facility. He traced their steps and beyond before he found just what he was looking for. "Bingo, there's an infirmary just around the next turn. It should be warm in there." He assured.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Helene replied demandingly before grabbing Josh by the arm and pulling him forward. They ran through the corridor until they came to a right turn. Just like Ricky had informed, a glazed steel door awaited them on the right side of the corridor with 'Infirmary'. "Don't worry Josh, you'll be okay." She said opening the door and rushing in. Fortunately for Josh's sake and discomfort, there were no zombies in the infirmary which felt much warmer than the corridor.

Josh sat on a sickbed still shivering while rubbing his upper arms. "Remind me to start wearing long sleeved shirts from now on." He quipped in frustration. He then remembered he was sitting on a bed and took off the covers and wrapped them around himself for warmth.

"There's gotta be something to keep you warm in here." Ricky spoke as he approached a line of closets. He began opening them one after another, discovering mostly useless medicinal items and a first-aid kit. Upon opening the fourth he found just what he was looking for. "Bingo." He mused taking the researcher's jacket and tossing it to Josh. "Here. It's not as stylish but I suppose it'll do." He remarked.

"Nah, it's just fine." Responded Josh as he slipped on the yellow jacket, realizing they were pretty thick. The jacket may have belonged to the company he now despised with all his heart and soul, but at least it felt comfy and warm. "That feels much better." He sighed zipping the jacket.

"You better stay here and warm up before you head on any further, okay?" Helene spoke caringly like a mother to a child. "Ricky, will you be alright if I stay here with Josh?"

"Yea, don't worry." Ricky replied with a shrug. He began heading for the door of the infirmary before Josh spoke up.

"We'll come after you as soon as I'm warmed up." He said informatively, having wrapped the blanket around him for good measure.

Ricky looked towards the door in thought before turning back to his companions. "I think its better I come pick you up. I'll be fine just snooping around." He took hold of the doorknob, but suddenly looked back at the two teenagers. "And Helene, I promise you if I find that bastard who did your father in, I'll kill him for you and your father's sake." He said with determination before finally exiting the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

All was silent around the tow teenaged survivors sitting in the much warmer infirmary aside from the humming of the facility's internal temperature system. Josh remained sitting on the sickbed, still wrapped in a blanket, which combined with the Umbrella researcher's jacket made him feel warmer and better. He swore he'd almost freeze to death in the facility which was beginning to seem like an oversized meat locker, and it even contained meat for good measure. It was the meat of the butchered researchers and sweepers fighting a futile battle against Umbrella's monsters. There was not much he could do right at the moment but wait until his body temperature would rise enough so he'd do fine wandering the cold corridors.

He couldn't help it but feel much more relaxed, now that he could finally sit down after endless running and combating the unnatural. The presence of Helene made it feel even better, without Ricky there to urge him to do something he wasn't up to or shouting remarks at them and their relationship. It was very comforting to be sitting alone with her. They shared an occasional glance, remembering the pact they made on the upper level about maybe starting a real relationship after they escaped the seemingly never-ending nightmare. Josh figured it wouldn't have been bad at all. He'd never been in a steady relationship, but then again, he never recalled anyone back home at school being in one either.

His best friend Raul was constantly on the look out for the next 'bird' to hit on and hope luck was on his side, which it mostly wasn't. He could say the same thing about Darryl, a friend he met thanks to Raul. Josh had been friends with Raul ever since kindergarten and met Darryl back in fourth grade. Darryl was, in a way, influenced by Raul's perkiness and overconfidence with the opposite sex. The group was in terms that Raul was undoubtedly even in Josh's opinion seemingly more handsome than him, Josh was the unnaturally strong and less talkative and Darryl was considered Raul's follower.

When it came to relationships in Benton St. high school, almost no one was in a steady relationship. A lot of the football team's so called girlfriends were just groupies and never went steady with them. It was always the same, one slept with someone and then the someone slept with a different one next week. Josh never was in any good terms with most of the football team, especially with Greg McHolm. Josh could basically consider him as strong as an ox and as dumb as a mule. They'd gotten into some scuffles with each other, like the incident last Valentine's Day when a lot of the school's first-year and even a small portion of the second-year female student body was taking interest in him, giving him the eye, calling him a stud, hottie and all that. McHolm never did want to admit it, but many of his own teammates understood his jealousy towards Josh because of his athletic skill and the 'so-called' charm Raul claimed him to have. Before that hectic day was over, Josh and Greg had gotten in a fight outside school grounds, neither going home without several bruises and a broken nose.

Josh's main source of annoyance and disturbance was none other than Amy Tolstoy, the self-proclaimed queen of the first-year girls. Not a day would go by than Josh having to acknowledge that bitch's existence. That girl was constantly after him, the only times of liberation being the weekends, holidays or days when either one was sick in bed. Not only was that perky, fake-innocent and uncongenial voice of hers or that act of pretending not hearing what someone's telling her or the fact she reminded him of a slut with her choice of attire, but she never got the clue on how much Josh despised just her presence. All that whore ever cared about was getting him to sleep with her for a few times before eventually dumping him for someone with a bigger cock. Having to live with that, Josh sometimes wished he was in Raul's shoes.

But perhaps starting a relationship would help him get Tolstoy off his back. Sure, it won't completely stop her pursuit, but it would minimize her direct attempts. Hell, it worked with Reggie, another friend of Josh who was one of those few students in a steady relationship with a very nice girl named Ana. Ana was one of the girls Raul tried approaching, but was turned down upon Darryl returning one of Raul's personal reading materials. That day was simply hilarious with Raul throwing a fit at Darryl whenever he could.

"What's so funny?" Helene asked curiously, her lips forming a half-smile.

Josh snapped out of his thoughts dumbfounded. Had he been laughing just now without even knowing? "W-what happened?" He stuttered in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"You sort of dazed off for a few minutes and started chuckling." Helene explained, "Were you perhaps thinking about something?" She added curiously.

Josh sighed in embarrassment before forming a half-smile on her face and saying, "Yea, you can say that." He looked towards to wall in front of him in thought. He stayed silent for a few minutes before saying, "I was thinking of this relationship you mentioned earlier."

Helene began to frown as she prepared for the suspected accusations. Josh raised a brow in confusion and scooted closer to her. He gently placed his hand on Helene's shoulder, getting the Japanese girl to look at him straight in the eyes. Josh smiled warmly as he scooted even closer.

"Hey, turn that frown upside down. I'm not saying it's a bad idea." Josh spoke softly and took hold of Helene's hand with his other hand. "On the contrary, I kind of like the idea." He added enthusiastically.

Helene gasped in surprise. Never before had she spoken to a boy in such manner, let alone sit so close to one another. They were sitting so close that their legs were touching. It brought a warm and comforting feeling between the two teenagers who sat there staring at each other in silence.

Helene placed her own free hand over Josh's hand on her shoulder. "Really Josh?" She asked with hope present in her gaze. To Josh it was such a beautiful sight to see. Her chestnut eyes looked so innocent and pretty. Josh could feel his heart beat faster at that very moment, but still felt comfortable and somewhat safer with Helene there with him.

"Yea," Josh shrugged nonchalantly, "I could have someone keeping Tolstoy away from me." He chortled, making Helene look at him dumbfounded in disbelief. Despite finding her response to his words funny, he decided he'd better tone it down. "I'm kidding, alright? Geez, please try lightening up if you attempt to hang around people like Baxter and Braggart."

Helene's face softened up and playfully punched Josh on the shoulder, "Perhaps in due time, jerk." She laughed along with Josh over their little love talk. "But you better promise on cleaning up your act." She playfully demanded and continued laughing with Josh.

"Not on your life." Josh replied playfully. "It's not just since you're a fine looking girl Helene, but like I promised earlier, I'm going to help you get through all of this. After we escape, we'll get you a nice apartment and get you settled in and then we can be together for as much as we want. You deserve that kind of happiness more than anyone and I'll goddamn give it to you no matter what I have to do." He spoke, putting all his heart into those words.

Helene scooted even closer to Josh and placed both of her arms around Josh. She looked up into his eyes admiringly. "Thank you." She sniffed. "I've never met a person so noble as you Josh." Tears of happiness began to trickle down her cheeks as she buried her face onto Josh's shoulder and sobbed. Josh took hold of her and held her passionately.

Josh could feel through the somewhat thick jacket how Helene gripped onto it, sobbing her heart out. For once in the ruined Raccoon City, a predicament of happiness was present. Josh softly stroked Helene's back. She felt so warm to the touch, his body experiencing it as the most soothing warmth it had ever felt. He could also feel Helene's tears wet his neck, but he didn't care. With no family or any known relatives to return to, it was now up to the youngest Ellington sibling to support Helene and help her.

"I'll make sure you get your life back." Josh thought determined. "From now on I'll always protect you. I promise…"

-

Ricky peeked from behind the corner before resuming treading cautiously through the chilling corridors. Luckily his team came well prepared in case of bad weather. Raccoon City had experienced one of the hottest summers in a while, but during night the climate had gradually started to cool. The green sweater he wore under the now torn Kevlar vest had kept him warm well through the cold nights aboveground and was doing a considerable job in the freezing B3 level of the facility. He felt very sorry for Josh, but hoped after warming up enough he could retain his duties of assisting in the search for Dr. Nayami's murderer and the Genome. Ricky still hated putting his younger friend and companion into such dangerous situations, much like he'd been doing back when they were with the group of survivors. But now since they were short on manpower and Josh was the only one available who was able to take care of himself, Ricky had no choice but to trust in his skills.

He continued on cautiously with his M4A1 held at shoulder level in case he was going to get ambushed. So far however the current floor's monster population was not as diverse as it had been in the upper levels. So far the only things he'd found were shot zombies, some of them missing a head or a large portion of it, other's riddled with bullet holes in the chest cavity. He was well aware he and his two companions weren't the only ones looking for the accursed embryo and had to advance with utmost caution. Just then he heard a familiar sound coming from a distance. It was a noise any soldier was all too familiar with; gunfire.

"Shit, that could be him!" He assumed, breaking into a sprint through the corridor, passing two turns which he had a peek through. The freezing temperatures of the B3 level may have kept the stench of the zombies at bay and was possibly harmful to the reptilian Hunters, but the cold vapors made visibility more unclear. The gunfire began to grow louder, so he had to be getting close. The sweepers he'd been stalking were possibly engaged in a gunfight with something, or were they firing at the same person he was looking for. "Why would Umbrella's men duke it out with each other? That makes no sense. I mean they're after the same thing right?" He wondered approaching the source of the noise.

Suddenly, a loud blast permeated the chilly air of the corridor. "Damn, grenade! Sound like the ones I've been using…" He figured, also reminding himself of the last grenade he had clipped onto his utility belt. Unlike normal infantry grenades, the U.B.C.S grenades were packed with more gunpowder, resulting in larger explosions to take out a considerable amount of zombies or anything related with ease. Umbrella never had intended to use them for human conflicts due to their high regard.

-

Josh looked up upon hearing the rattle of what sounded to be a loud blast. It was difficult to determine where it came from, but the blast was loud enough to be heard through the infirmary's door.

"That can't be good…" He thought, breaking up his and Helene's long hug. "Helene, sit tight, I'm going out!" He said informingly and rushed to the door with his MP5 at hand.

"But Ricky told us to stay put!" Helene chimed in with worry in her voice. She then sniffed after crying her eyes out, resulting in her cheeks turning red.

"I know that, but I'm not leaving his ass out there to die!" Josh replied sternly. "Just wait here and we'll be back in no time." He ordered and went out of the infirmary.

-

After the blast, Ricky rounded another left turn, still keeping his gun at shoulder level. The sweepers or Nayami's murderer were very close now and he needed to stay sharp. He was dealing with men who had been trained to kill more effectively than he was. It didn't take long for him to discover a charred blast's remnant with a corpse with half its torso missing and severely burned. The icy vapor was doing a fine job of keeping the smell of seared flesh from assaulting his senses. He came up to another corpse with its feet missing and was leaking obscene amounts of blood, which congealed and froze in an instant. The murderer had to be close now. Ricky moved on past the corpse and came up to a steel door left ajar.

"Okay, let's do this motherfucker." Ricky hissed and quickly rushed into the room, pointing his rifle at the very first thing resembling human. "Freeze!!" He hollered authoritatively to the figure standing back turned to him.

The figure in front of him slowly turned to glance back at the U.B.C.S grunt. Slowly the man began to reach for his Sig PRO handgun, but this made Ricky take a threatening step towards him and switch off the assault rifle's safety, "I said freeze!!" He shouted demandingly. "Toss your gun over here!" He ordered, confident on having the person under his control.

The man turned to face Ricky and sloppily tossed the handgun over to him, clanking harmlessly on the floor. The man then put his hands on top of his head to motion surrender. This man was clad in the same U.B.C.S uniform Ricky was wearing, but seemed much older with dark brown, short cropped hair and a considerable amount of stubble present around his mouth. A very distinctive feature was the long, prominent slash mark present on his right cheek. This man had a very cold, rock-hard stare, seeming to not be intimidated by Ricky's threats.

"What else have you got there?" Ricky asked, peeking behind the man and noticed a shotgun resting on the table. "Take that shotgun and toss it!" He ordered demandingly with his harshest tone.

The man did as he was told and took the shotgun with one hand and sloppily tossed it to Ricky. Now being confident that the man was unarmed, Ricky approached the man, keeping his gun trained at him at all times. "Identify yourself." He ordered.

"Littman, Sergeant Harris Littman." The man replied willingly, sounding more amused rather than threatened. "And who might you be?" He asked with sarcastic curiosity.

"None of your concern scum!" Ricky retorted with another threatening step. "Tell me, what're you doing here?!" He had the murderer in his grasp, so he might as well had learned of Littman's goals before sending the worthless piece of shit to hell as punishment for his crime. "Why were you blasting people on your own side?"

Littman suddenly snickered from the last question, "Are you stupid or something punk?" He asked surprised. "Those aren't Umbrella's men."

"What?!" Ricky asked dumbfounded, but remained focused on the interrogation.

"Those are men from the HCF, dumbass." Littman scoffed arrogantly.

"HCF?" Ricky raised a brow in confusion. "What the fuck is that?" He asked, still retaining his demanding tone.

"You don't know?!" Littman asked in amazement. "Let's just say, they're like the business rival of Umbrella, but not in a subtle approach if you get my drift." The U.B.C.S supervisor smirked before continuing. "They sent their little goons down here to retrieve something that is property to my benefactors. Now, I personally wouldn't give a shit on what Umbrella plans to do with that Genome or whatever they called it, but a nice, fat paycheck and a chance to relive the good old days, how could I turn that down? Besides, it is my way of saying 'thanks', for getting me out of that mental institute those government pigs tossed me into."

Ricky grimaced in anger from the man's words. With no second guess, this Sergeant Littman just had to be some sort of madman. The icy tone in his voice and the display of arrogance was already a discerning give away, but it was the man's eyes that really proved it. If looked at carefully, Ricky could notice the man's left eye twitch at the mention of the 'good old days'.

"So you're just another unleashed sicko like some other goons in the U.B.C.S huh?" Ricky asked uncaringly. "Well, now that I've heard enough crap from you, you better give me one good explanation to why I shouldn't blow your ass down to hell where it belongs…" Ricky said flatly.

"What? Just because you think I'm mad, doesn't mean you're right!" Littman retorted and with movement faster than the eye, drew a large combat knife from his belt, one of such considerate size it'd put Ricky's knife into shame.

"Did I say you can move?!" Ricky responded and was about ready to blast the insane U.B.C.S sergeant.

Littman responded by licking his lips with anticipation. That added with his murderous gaze made Ricky feel sicker after hearing the gratuitous tale.

Littman chuckled arrogantly all of a sudden, "You don't have the guts to kill me rookie." He said mischievously, holding the knife counterbalanced in his hands in a striking pose.

Ricky quickly took rapid steps backwards to avoid any incoming slashes. Before getting a chance to pull the trigger, Littman with graceful dance-like movements swerved to the side and with a turn of his body, jabbed the butt of his large knife's grip towards Ricky.

BANG!

With only his reflexes guiding him, Ricky twisted his body to the side to unknowingly dodge an incoming shot fired from the grip of the madman's knife. He rolled upon taking impact and was quickly up on his knees, his assault rifle aimed back at Littman who had gotten the chance to grab his handgun. The two men stood there, pointing each other with their guns, neither one daring to make a move, at least Ricky wasn't. This lunatic he was facing may have been crazy and obviously sadistic, but he seemed like a battle hardened fighter to possess moves like that.

"A combat knife with a little surprise. Nice huh?" Littman sarcastically asked, keeping his aim steady towards Ricky's face. "That was a pretty nice dodge though junior. You've got some moves. But I doubt those moves of yours will be saving you from me." He grinned evilly and was ready to pull down on the trigger.

"Aw shit, look at what you got yourself into this time Rick…" Ricky thought, desperately trying to maintain his level headedness. One slip up and it was him with a one way ticket to his grave. Maybe the man was correct; maybe he didn't have what it took to kill him. "Well, only one way to find out…" He thought tenaciously. He continued to stay still, locked in a seemingly equal Mexican Standoff so far, but how long would it last before one would shoot and the other would die.

-

A/N: Finally done! Hallelujah! Sorry it took longer than anticipated since my girlfriend from Britain was visiting me for two weeks and had more bad cases of writer's block. I think you all notice that this chapter had barely any monsters or shootout action. Well, a story can't be all guns and bullets eh? It needed a little suspense, some horror and finally, a little drama never did hurt. Oh yea, and someone facing off a lunatic human opponent, that works right? Anyway, this time I really promise not to keep you all waiting too long. The story's not even near completion, but I intend to get it finished in the next few months. See ya later…


	27. Chapter 27: Nightmare Made Flesh

Chapter 27: Nightmare Made Flesh

Josh warily tread through the chilling corridors. Now that he'd gotten the researcher's jacket, the cold air did little to slow him down. He'd still felt nippy, but being on the constant move allowed his body to generate enough body heat to continue going. He had more concerning matters at hand after hearing the thundering blast that had permeated all the way through the infirmary door. Normally it would be a relief hearing grenades blasting Umbrella's monster into bits, but considering the type of people present and accounted for in the facility, it could have been his new friend who was the target of that blast. He'd taken the chance to check over his equipment in case he was to encounter some of the sweepers or even the murderer they were after in hot pursuit.

"You better be alright Rick…" Josh murmured rounding a corner, keeping a steady aim forward with his silenced MP5. "If your ass just got blasted, then we're royally screwed for good."

So far he hadn't run even into corpses or remnants of anything human or inhuman alike. It was as if the second bottommost level was devoid of all life. Was it because of the icy temperature? It got Josh wondering if the T-virus had any effect in the cold. Perhaps freezing temperatures were capable of keeping the virus in check.

"If so, then this crap's useless in arctic warfare…" He mused incoherently. He actually wished all samples of the virus could just be disposed of so something like the current outbreak could never happen again. He'd seen enough bloodshed, death, destruction and ruin of peoples' lives for one lifetime, assessing his judgment towards Umbrella. They needed to pay for their crimes. "Watch out shitheads, 'cuz after we get outta here, we're so gonna bust your asses." He thought with teeth gritted tightly together.

-

His forehead drenched in cold sweat, he was now in a stand-off that was going to solve whether he'd live or die. Ricky was now caught in combat against Lieutenant Harris Littman, a man assessed as a lunatic from years of slaughtering enemy soldiers back before Ricky had even learned how to talk properly. So far his luck had accomplished in dodging a surprise shot, missing probably just mere inches from his head. He continued being a sweating bullet while the crazed U.B.C.S soldier kept a deadpan expression, but in the back of his head, he was surely smiling from pleasure of killing a fellow human. Neither knew when it was the best opportunity to pull the trigger. Ricky may have had the advantage over weaponry, but lacked experience and was certain of getting struck first before he got a shot in. Of all the adversities he'd experienced in the doomed city, this had to be the gravest of them all.

"What's the matter pussy? Pissed your pants?" Littman asked disdainfully, his malevolent grin returning. "C'mon, you know you just gotta pull the trigger…" He added in a clear attempt to persuade Ricky to drop his guard.

Ricky tried to remain strong and in control, doing his best not to show any weakness to the crazed soldier. If he gave into his fear, he'd get shot that instant, assured his luck wasn't going to pull through for him a second time against a far more skilled soldier.

"Please God, don't let me die here…" Ricky plead in his mind in hope the Almighty would help him, which at present felt unlikely. "I got two kids to rescue, and I sure as hell won't be of any help if I'm lying here dead with cadavers feasting on what's left of me…"

"Hey, I'm waiting you shit-face." Littman continued to disdain Ricky for the fact of being a target of his gun, a tool he'd used mercilessly before, willing to continue using it until the day he dies. "C'mon, what's the matter? Are you scared?" He asked belittlingly, his grin growing broader and his trigger finger becoming itchier by every passing second.

Ricky's breathing began to quicken from the words of Littman. He was very sure of his near future and it was looking very bleak for him.

"Josh, Helene… Sorry. It looks like I became the hunted…" Ricky thought, regretting on pushing his luck over its boundaries, and now he was going to pay for it with his life. "It's been fun. I'd just wish it had been under different circumstances."

-

Josh continued his progress through the chilling corridors. He was thankful of not having ended up wasting any much needed ammunition for the time being. He occasionally had to exhale warm vapors on his fingers to keep them from going numb in the temperature which he'd considered clearly being thirty below zero. He furthered his attempts at keeping his much needed fingers warm by forcefully rubbing them against the texture of his jeans, the friction causing them to gradually warm for a moment. He'd been treading through the corridors for about five minutes with no avail on finding his friend. His search began to show some progress upon stumbling on the chest of a sweeper's corpse, or preferably only half a chest. Two sweepers had been caught in a large blast, courtesy of what had to have been a U.B.C.S grenade judging by the blast circle's size.

"Shit…" Josh cussed in realization on how close Dr. Nayami's murderer was and without a doubt, Ricky had to be close too. "Okay, I'm coming to save you wiseass. Just hang on." He mused as he walked past the corpses, instantly finding a steel door that had been left ajar and had been charred on its surface. Remembering some actions he saw in Darryl's favorite videogame Metal Gear Solid, Josh pressed himself against the wall and inched closer to the door. After getting close enough to the door's opening, he carefully peeked over the edge.

"Oh no…" He thought as the unnerving sight unfolded before his eyes. There in the room stood Ricky, anxiously pointing his M4A1 towards an older U.B.C.S soldier, one that appeared much older than Ricky with short cropped black hair and a decent amount of stubble. This man was intently pointing a handgun towards Ricky, seemingly with a grin on his face. The man hadn't noticed Josh from behind the door, so both soldiers didn't know of his presence.

"Oh great, this is just perfect…" Josh thought in sarcasm. "Ricky's in there about to get a slug in his ass." He looked intently at his sub-machine gun for a second and instantly understood what he'd have to resort to in order to save his companion. He flicked the firing settings on the MP5 on single-fire. He also turned off the LAM to avoid arousing any attention on him. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." He whispered incoherently before aiming towards the unidentified soldier with the MP5's metal sightings.

"C'mon, can't you shoot dickhead?!" Josh heard the soldier speaking with strong disdain in his voice, all aimed at the mentally assaulted Ricky, whose teeth were tightly bit together in frustration. "You just gotta pull the trigger. Oh wait, let me guess, you've never shot anyone haven't you?" He added to the belittlement.

"Son of a bitch!" Josh's mind screamed, the metal sightings fixated right on the side of the man's head. "Prepare to go to hell…"

"I damn well know how to shoot and kill," Ricky retorted with a pained, almost panicked tone, his breathing sounding uncontrolled, "But what I don't understand how someone could enjoy putting down fellow human beings…" He hissed, trying to sound as aggressive as he could in the man's presence.

"Well, don't knock it till you've tried it fucker." The man chortled, his grin becoming the broadest it could be. It was almost amazing it hadn't reached up to his ears like some unworldly demon's grin. The best way to describe this very person might have probably been calling him a monster or even a demon. "But I almost forgot. You won't get to. Not after I blow your head full of holes and watch that sack of meat of yours writhe a good few minutes." The man laughed malevolently before sticking his tongue out and licking his front teeth in anticipation. "It's really not that bad…"

The words struck Josh's mind like arrows. He was prepared to kill a human being, but then in the back of his mind he clearly remembered vowing to keep his kill score nil. But his friend was in danger and needed to be saved, not to mention his new girlfriend's father had to be avenged. Was killing a living, breathing being made of flesh and blood like him worth for all of that? Instantly his aim began to waver as his mind fought over on whether to shoot or not.

"You know what, I'll give you five seconds to enjoy your life before feeding your worthless carcass to those walking piles of puss." The man mentioned, instantly beginning the countdown, "Five…"

Josh began to quiver as his aim began to waver harder. He had four seconds to save Ricky or he was lost.

"Four…"

Josh bit his tongue in panic, not knowing what to do anymore. The target was right in front of him clear as day, but he'd be breaking a vow no one ever should. Was he going to kill or lose a friend?

"Three…"

His eyes widened in horror upon realizing what he'd been planning the past few seconds ago, his aim had become completely unstable now and the sights were far off target. His mind raced a mile a minute trying to decide his actions.

"Two…"

He swore he began to hear voices in his head, one yelling "Shoot!" and the other yelling "Stop!" They grew louder after one ended and continued growing more audible. His aim was completely off balance now.

"One…"

There it was! The moment of truth had come. Loose a friend or break a vow?

"See ya, dickhead." The man said nonchalantly.

Josh suddenly let out a frustrated yell, startling Ricky and the man. The youth threw himself from behind the door and fired one silenced shot. At that instant a burst of blood shot out, staining the floor with specks of crimson splatters. A pained howl elicited from the crazed soldier who ended up dropping his firearm and clutching his forearm in pain. Ricky took the opportunity to dispose of Littman and cocked his rifle, suddenly spotting a grenade dropped down on the floor. Before he was capable of reacting in any way possible, the explosive detonated, releasing a loud, deafening bang added with an intense flash of light. The young U.B.C.S grunt yelled in pain while covering his eyes with his forearm to try and ease off the burning afterimage his eyes caught.

Littman rushed out of the small room, hurriedly scooping up his handgun from the floor. Before he could make a mad dash to safety, he was met by a silent burst of bullets that almost nailed him right in the side of his face. Shifting his gaze with contempt in his expression, he saw the young Ellington pointing an MP5 sub-machinegun at him before letting loose another burst, just barely nailing Littman's left ear. The battle hardened killer shot back with his handgun, startling the teenager who suddenly dropped his weapon with his fingers cringed. A spurt of blood came bursting through Josh's left shoulder in that very moment. In an instant the boy was yelling in pain before collapsing down on the vapor obscured floor. Littman looked at his work, seeing a boy who was barely his late teens was lying writhing on the floor, clutching his shoulder while screaming uncontrollably in agony. The gruesome sight however in turn brought a satisfied grin on Littman's face who almost through instinct was training his handgun towards the boy. Shooting a few more holes here and there and watch the boy bleed to death slowly and painfully would have been adequate refreshment from the bullet wound he had inflicted on his forearm.

"You thought you could go all Rambo on me, did ya kid?" Littman asked nonchalantly along with hidden glee to relive his days of glory of slaughtering his enemies. "Well listen up. This is the real world. And now you're going on a one-way ticket trip to hell." His grin grew wider as his finger tightened on the trigger, "Say hello to Satan for me."

A sudden rattle of rapid-fire broke Littman's concentration and with a graceful evasive maneuver avoided a series of bullets meant for him. Looking back into the small archives room he'd just been in, he saw Ricky crouched down in firing position. He fired again; barely missing Littman's left shoulder.

"You sacks of shit are really starting to piss me off!" Littman hollered in a fit of rage before unclipping a grenade from his belt, ready to pull the pin and blow the young grunt into charred chunks.

"Piss this motherfucker…"

"_Bang!__"_

Now was Littman's turn to yell in pain again as a new entry wound was made in the side of his stomach, causing him to immediately drop the grenade before getting a chance to pull the pin. Seeing no alternate retaliation, the ex-government assassin took off in a sprint, leaving small specks of blood on the floor courtesy of the new wound.

Josh fired two more shots in the madman's direction with his Beretta before succumbing to the burning sensation in his arm and collapsing back down onto the floor in pain.

Ricky now had the chance to quickly compose himself before strapping on his rifle and getting up. He hurriedly rushed to Josh's aid who was writhing in excruciating pain on the floor with a fresh bullet wound in his left shoulder through which a lot of blood was leaking, staining the once clean full yellow researcher's jacket. A decent amount had also dripped down on the floor, which meant the bullet had gone through. A wound of that degree meant a lot of blood loss if the wound was not immediately treated, but the danger of infection was not highly probable since the bullet had gone through the shoulder, so there would have been no need to extract the bullet. The cold air around them also minimized the chances of infection.

"Aw shit…" Ricky cussed as he knelt besides Josh and lifted his head up gently. "You okay kid?" He asked worriedly.

"Fucking… cocksucker…" Josh hissed incoherently from the pain. "He fucking shot me…"

"We gotta get that wound checked up. Can you stand?" Ricky asked as he assisted Josh into a sitting position.

"Yea… I just look weak and shit since I've never been shot before…" Josh replied sternly. It was a sensation completely new to him, considering he was only fifteen in age. Very few his age would go as far as to have a gunshot wound inflicted on them. The most recent times he remembered people near his age getting shot was way back in World War two during the Rising at Normandy.

"Yea kid I understand." Ricky promptly replied lifting Josh up by his shoulder, slinging his healthy arm over his shoulder and the two began to walk back to the infirmary. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. It may sting for the first few hours or so, but I assume you can still kick ass."

"Hell yea. I already got my right arm slashed; now it feels almost as if there's nothing there." Josh replied proudly, remembering the gash he'd received back when the cable car in the Uptown Area crashed into the Clock tower building's outer wall. The wound had been almost completely forgotten after it had been expertly treated by the good doctor George. Josh instantly got a question for Ricky. "By the way, you ever got shot?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I've never been shot before in my life." Ricky replied in all sincerity. "You do know I was never involved in missions in the SEAL:s."

Josh raised a brow in response, "So, you sure you know how to treat an entry wound dude?"

"Do I look dumb?" Ricky asked sternly in response.

"No comment there man." Josh replied, making both him and Ricky have a hearty laugh despite the conditions they were in.

-

Littman sat behind a corner a few twists and turns away from the very people who were hunting him down. The crazed Supervisor at the moment was having a hard time extracting a bullet from his right forearm with his large combat knife, wincing occasionally as he tried prying it out with the wide blade with little success.

"Goddamn shitheads…" He grumbled as his blade was once again unable to dig out the lodged bullet, only ripping away at his sinew. The activity caused him to wince every time he missed, but having lived through countless successful assassinations which often resulted in him taking a round or two, it wasn't new to him in any way. "I swear if I see that brat again, I'll wring his fucking neck! And then I'll saw his noggin off and feed it to those zombies! And if the skull's left afterwards, I'll make a goddamn voodoo necklace from it…" He plotted infuriated of how he was shot twice by a mere child.

After a few more straining attempts, the bullet finally came dislodged from his arm and dropped on the floor, coated in Littman's own blood. Afterwards he applied a styptic and wrapped a bandage around the wound. Now it was turn to check up the injury on his lower abdomen. The bullet wasn't stuck inside it, so there was no other need but to place another pair of styptics and wrap a bandage around his abdomen. The wounds may have been treated, but the pain was still there to remind him of the embarrassing occurrence.

Littman stood up from his kneeling position, not minding the pain shooting up and down his arm and through his abdomen. He was intent on finding the Genome embryo to get his fat paycheck and afterwards take care of the fools hot on his tail. But first he needed to get his shotgun back before venturing in deeper. Who knew, perhaps his two targets were still in the same spot, completely unsuspecting his comeback and they'd be like pigs to the slaughter for him.

"Yea, I'd certainly hope so…" He mused, hurriedly sprinting to the location of the archives room, slapping a fresh clip into his SIG Pro for good measure. One fundamental rule he learned from all his years as an assassin was to never approach unprepared.

-

Helene sat impatiently in the infirmary, concerned what was taking her companions. She'd thought over plenty times whether to go out and search for them or remain in the safety of the infirmary. Just as she began thinking it over again, the door creaked open, causing her to stand up in anticipation. Luckily, it was none other than Ricky, lugging Josh with the support of his shoulders. Helene seemed ready ask something, but her face went suddenly pale upon noticing the wound on Josh's shoulder.

"Oh my god!" She gasped in terror. "What happened to you Josh?!"

Josh grinned weakly in response, seemingly fine despite his injury. "Don't worry, it's just an entry wound." He spoke, suddenly wincing again.

Ricky helped Josh sit down on the infirmary bed, afterwards opening the closet containing the first-aid kit. Helene sat next to Josh and took hold of his right hand, looking at the leaking wound in horror.

"Seriously, I'm okay. It just stings a little." Josh said assuredly, presenting a comforting smile.

"Yea, Josh is one tough kid." Ricky concurred as he walked back with the first-aid kit at hand, already looking through its contents. "Normally I'd be pretty pissed-off kid, but the way you saved my life, I just can't help but feel proud of ya." He spoke, the side of his lip forming a smile. "Just a shame you had to take one for the team."

"Never mind that. Just fix up my shoulder so we can get on with making that lunatic pay." Josh retorted demandingly. He slid off his new jacket and momentarily took off his t-shirt to fully expose the wound, causing Helene to look away in disgust.

Just as Ricky had predicted that the bullet hadn't gotten lodged inside Josh's shoulder. He never did like the idea of having to dig out a bullet from a comrade, thinking of how painful it was for the one getting that sort of treatment. He first grabbed a can of Umbrella-brand first-aid spray, shook it roughly and sprayed its greenish substance straight into the wound, causing Josh to growl in excruciating pain as it entered his shoulder, also it felt freezing to the touch. Helene continued holding onto Josh's hand tightly to comfort him at least a little. After Ricky had sprayed both the entry and exit, he applied styptics to both ends of the wound and wrapped a good amount of bandage around Josh's chest to hold them in place. After it was done, Ricky placed the kit to the side and Josh put his slightly stained t-shirt back on and adorned the researcher's jacket.

"How do you feel?" Ricky asked.

"Like a million bucks." Josh replied sarcastically as he took the liberty of reloading his weapons, but not being accustomed to the stinging sensation still present in his arm made it take longer than usual. "Look, let's just cut it out with the bickering and get going. We still gotta get that Genome thing before he does."

"Are you sure you want to move around much with that arm of yours?" Helene asked concernedly.

"Yes, I am sure." Josh replied determinedly. "I already got big scars that'll never go away, so might as well get this over with."

"Sure thing," Ricky replied with no backtalk intended. "I think it's time we really start getting outta this dump while we're still young. I for one got better things to do than be stuck in this shithole."

"Yea, not to mention I'm not even out of high school." Josh added sympathetically. "I had to give up a week of hunting and fishing with Uncle Burt for God's sake."

Helene looked up at Josh in thought before finally saying, "I suppose I've got to move on now. With my family dead and no hope to ever see this place as my home again, I just want to run."

"That's good enough for me that we start moseying and finding that damn thing." Josh responded in reference to Dr. Stepanovitch's ultimate creation.

With those words the three survivors left the warmth and safety of the infirmary and into the freezing corridors of the facility's B3 floor.

-

Littman continued his sweep of the B3 floor, having access to its internal locations via a digital map he'd been assigned in addition to his other highly sophisticated gear he'd used to infiltrate the facility. Having retained his SPAS-12 back from the archive room, he was now confident on tackling anything that came his way. So far the only signs of life, living and undead alike were the people tracking him down in the hellish facility and a few frosted zombies.

"I never did like relying so much on hardware back in the day." Littman thought with his eyes partially fixated on his map and on his surroundings, the last thing he'd need was getting bitten by one of the viral carriers. That would be the biggest insult in his forty-six years of life. "But I gotta hand it to those eggheads; these things sure come in handy."

After several more twists and turns, the ex-government assassin came to a single elevator. He tried looking for the elevator button to open its steel doors, but there was no such thing to be found. All that was present on the elevator were strange rune-like carving etched onto the shining surface of the door, resembling that of an old metal gate.

Littman couldn't help but snort at the work of art, kicking it with lightly in which it got stained with a mix of blood and mud. "These Umbrella guys sure have some messed up taste…" He mused belittlingly, switching his focus to a steel carved text beside the elevator.

_Gates of Heaven_

_T__he realm of our one and only Lord, giver of life and all existence. Through confession of ones Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride, can only then he purify thou soul. But if thou fail to grasp his loving hands, will the gates of eternal paradise not open for you._

"Great, more of that religious hoo-hah." Littman spat in annoyance. "So now what am I supposed to do, cut off someone's hands and offer them to the door?" He mused sarcastically, but then he took notice of two circular holes just below the text, the words 'Lord's left hand' and 'Lord's right hand' etched below each of them. The holes seemed to hide some sort of gears if looked hard enough, much like in a music box or an old wind-up toy. "Look like keyholes…" He thought, scratching his stubbly chin. "That goddamn Stepanovitch must've hidden those keys in the facility." He grumbled, kicking the door in a fit of rage. "Just great! That fucking Genome embryo's gotta be down in floor B4 and thanks to that scumbag I hit rock bottom! Damn you!"

-

It opened its eyes from its rest once again, intently looking through its glass prison with curious eyes. It had begun to gain strength. It's muscles tensed up as if tried to move its large arms, looking down on them and the foot long claws it had been given through the painful procedure flashing in the recesses of its mind, but no longer did fear nor any of its human thoughts occur. It wanted out to seek new life and destroy it with its awesome power.

With a lightning fast slash of its claws, the reinforced glass tube it had been laying dormant within gave away to the force of the fluids contained within and burst out, spreading throughout the floor, giving it a pristine shine. The entity took its first step, feeling the cold wet floor. It stepped out of the stasis tube stepping on shards of glass, not minding them at all as it forcefully ripped off its breathing mask. It scanned its surroundings with a red vision, an instant bloodlust triggering.

Suddenly the creature let out a high pitched, banshee-like wail before rushing towards the steel doors before it. With one mighty ram the door was badly dented. With another wail the monster charged at the door again, this time almost blowing the reinforced metal off its hinges. The first sign of movement it saw was from zombies that had congregated themselves in there, having fed on several carcasses present. Upon sensing the creature's presence, the zombies began shuffling towards it, eager for their next meal. The monster let out a feral snarl and before the closest zombie was even in biting range; its rotting head was suddenly swiped clean off. The creature shifted its attention to the remaining viral carriers before going into a feral craze and began beating and hacking away at them, not stopping until all forms of movement were gone. It once again scanned its environment, searching for new signs of activity, sounds or scent. With its senses picking nothing in this environment, it began to walk off into the darkness, crushing the torso of a decapitated zombie under its foot.

The hunt was now on…

-

Josh sneezed abruptly all of a sudden, making him sniffle deeply in response.

"You feeling okay kid?" Ricky asked with concern.

"Yea." Josh replied nonchalantly, followed by another sniffle. "It just came out of nowhere."

"They say we sneeze when someone talks about us." Helene remarked, getting a confused look from Josh. "Something my grandmother told me once." She added with a sheepish smile.

"No, you just finally got the courage to say something." Josh replied, "But thanks, now I know something new. Insignificant, but what the heck?" He shrugged. "So Rick, any idea where we are?"

"It looks like we'll be passing Stepanovitch's study after the next turn." Replied Ricky after glancing his copy of the facility map. "Perhaps we'll find some answers to all of this lunacy." He figured, not satisfied with the findings in the mad scientist's personal office on the uppermost level of the hidden facility.

Normally the head of a facility would keep all of his personal logs in their own offices where fellow staff members would never snoop around if they knew what was good for them, but Stepanovitch was either too smart or too paranoid to keep all of his fundamentals in one place.

"You don't think the loon's alive do you?" Josh asked curiously, "Cuz' I mean, what could some frail scientist do at a time like this? From what I saw most of them are already on the 'other side' and the ones lucky enough got hacked to bits."

"Well, I'd say he had a good as chance as anyone else. There were security and maintenance personnel here too, so they might have had a sporting chance against the monsters if they just holed up somewhere, hoping for help to arrive. Trust me, I've been in the actually military, where you're bound to learn some things to do incase of emergency." Ricky remarked, "But the sweepers are another thing. Those guys were trained to kill anything and anyone they were assigned."

"Right, but it doesn't look like the soldiers were too good at it either." Josh added, taking a glance back cautiously. "It was nice of them to clear the way for us."

Rounding yet another turn in the below zero temperature hallways they discovered nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual downed corpse of a zombie formerly a researcher inflicted with a headshot wound. The next door they came to let out a familiar hiss of hydraulics upon sensing the survivors' presence and lifted up. Upon entering the room, the door closed, sealing out the cold air. This room was more like a miniature lobby with another similar lifting door at the other end.

Grateful for getting out of the freezer, the survivors went through the next sliding door, discovering a medium-sized, sterile white room. However, the sterile environment didn't look much more sterile after the survivors saw what was slumped down onto the floor beneath a chalkboard. A bald figure clad in a bloodstained lab coat lay prostrated on the floor in a puddle of blood, a set of holes in his back indicating the cause of death. However, the person seemed to have been bleeding severely around his entire body as his skin was now completely red and crusty. In dismay Ricky knelt next to the corpse for an inspection.

"What is it?" Helene asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

"I have no idea…" Ricky replied gravely. "But whatever it is, it's dead…" He then took notice of a small shiny object lying on the floor inches away from the corpse's right hand, as if it had been dropped when the corpse fell. Picking it up, Ricky stood up to inspect the object. It looked much like a key with a plastic bow and a very short cylindrical blade with grooves carved into it, something he hadn't seen before in his life. "What do you suppose this is for?" Ricky mused.

Josh suddenly realized something before speaking, "Ricky, let me see that." He extended his palm where Ricky promptly placed the key. Josh examined it with great interest. That's when he recalled the time spent in Stepanovitch's office. The heavy duralumin case he'd found inside the locker had odd circular keyholes on its locks. Perhaps this was the key that would open the case and finally the secrets it held would be revealed. "Well goddamn, I think we just got the key to that case from Stepanovitch's office!" He announced with pride.

"And look at this." Ricky announced approaching an opened laptop computer left on a table bolted to the wall. "Looks like he forgot to shut off his PC. Careless little asshole, isn't he?" He quipped sarcastically.

"Think you can access it?" Helene asked taking a place next to the U.B.C.S grunt.

"I don't need access, but using it may take some time." He looked up from the PC in thought. "And that's something we don't have." He then caught a glimpse of a black attaché in the corner of the room, possibly used by Stepanovitch to transport the laptop. "I have an idea," He said as he grabbed the attaché and slid to laptop into it. "We'll take it with us and use it as evidence instead of wasting our time here." He explained suggestively. "I assume I can trust you to safeguard it kid?" He asked Josh expectedly as he held out the attaché.

Josh gave a confident smile and grabbed the attaché, "You can count on me." He said with a firm nod.

-

Down in the dark depths, the hunter was on the move. So far it hadn't been aroused to do more butchering due to the lack of movement its vision picked up. All was dark and silent aside from the hums of the internal machines of the walls. Just then its ears picked up a sound, a silent hiss of some sort it hadn't heard before. It suddenly bared its teeth and stiffened its muscles as it scanned the area for any signs of movement. Suddenly its ears picked up a 'click' on the roof and with lightning fast reflexes it leapt and burrowed it claws into something soft, feeling warm liquid oozing over its scaly hands.

It touched down to the ground again, accompanied by a bang of something dropping down onto the floor. A high-pitched shriek emanated from what it had just skewered and finished to job by violently kicking the downed creature, snapping its spine and marring most of its bodily features. The hunter stared down at its blood soaked claws, suddenly bringing them close to its head and licked the red liquid. It suddenly began to clean its once shimmering claws until all of the blood was gone. The activity appeared to only energize it as it grabbed the marred Licker off the floor and tore a chunk of its flesh from it chest cavity with its incisors. The taste of blood began to energize it even more as it felt its urge to kill augment the longer it felt the sensation. It spat out the chunk of sinew and continued treading in the darkness at a faster pace.

Its progress was soon halted as it came up to a steel door. It began to claw it as if to test the durability of the material. The only results were long scratch marks on the door's surface. With an exasperated snarl the monster pounded at the door with a thrust of its palm, but with no avail. With an even sterner snarl it began kicking at the door with great force. The steel barrier began to improbably shake under the torment and began to grow a wide dent from all the kicks. With one more kick the steel door finally burst open, revealing a large horde of zombies on the other side. The undead immediately reacted by lunging towards the newcomer. One of the zombies managed to grab onto the creature's chest before being swiped away like a rag doll.

The creature bared its vicious incisors once again before letting out another banshee-like wail before it began hacking away at the zombies in frenzy.

-

A sudden blare started ringing throughout the facility, startling the three survivors who looked up in confusion and dread. It wasn't loud enough to deafen anyone, but the noise was strong enough to indicate there was more trouble for the survivors.

"Warning! Containment breach on level B4, sector 3!" A female voice spoke through the intercom. "Repeat! Containment breach on level B4, sector 3! Emergency lockdown initiated! Full lockdown in thirty seconds!"

"Dude, what the hell's going on?!" Josh shouted in surprise.

"An alarm!" Ricky spoke. "Something big must've gotten loose from its cage!" He figured, knowing very well what Umbrella could have been holing down in the facility produced by their deluded experiments.

"I hate it when you're right." Josh muttered, tiredly shrugging his left shoulder which continued feeling sore from the entry wound. "Can we get a move on? That corpse is murder on my sinuses."

The corpse suddenly shook as if triggered by Josh's words. The boy's eyes widened in dread, wishing to deny what he just witnessed.

"What's wrong Josh?" Helene asked after noticing Josh's spooked expression.

"T-that corpse just… moved…" Josh stuttered jerking a finger at the corpse.

Ricky and Helene looked at the reddened corpse, but it seemed to be staying still in their sights.

"Are you feeling okay kid? Is the suspense starting to get to ya?" Ricky asked with concern.

"No! I saw it twitch, I swear!" Josh blurted glancing at Ricky and immediately brought his attention on the corpse. "Its fingers moved and its arms shook!"

Just then the corpse twitched even harder, this time catching both Helene's and Ricky's attentions. The corpse shortly began to convulse uncontrollably, as if it was reawakening from death. Ricky hurriedly trained his SPAS-12 at the now constantly convulsing cadaver with trembling arms.

"My bad kid." He said uneasily his trembling beginning to slow down gradually.

"Hey, this is Raccoon City, anything's possible." Josh remarked assuming a steady firing position.

The corpse then suddenly stopped moving, eliciting raised brows from the two humans. The corpse's bony fingers still twitched weakly, but there were no other signs of movement. Ricky approached the corpse and stared at it intently until the movement of the fingers stopped too.

"What the hell was that all about?" Josh asked confused and lowered his handgun.

Just then the corpse stood up instantly, startling Josh and Ricky and eliciting a scream from Helene who cowered back in fear. The corpse looked up at the two male survivors, exposing its glazed yellowish eyes and blood-red face with the remnants of its lips hanging down in straps. Ricky stood appalled by what was occurring before his eyes, his fear almost making him immobile.

The creature let out a guttural growl and rushed towards Ricky who managed to hold out his shotgun to keep the thing from reaching him. The young U.B.C.S grunt was totally taken aback by the sheer brute strength of this new adversary as it began to swing at him with its bony claw-like appendages, causing the grunt to hop backwards to avoid the frenzied attack. In retaliation to strange zombie rushed towards him with speed uncharacteristic to most of its brethren. Before Ricky could retaliate, the blood-red zombie chomped down on his shoulder.

Ricky yelled in pain as the zombie pulled back with a mouthful of his own flesh. It chewed onto the bloody material, splattering blood all over Ricky's face, but the young mercenary couldn't react as the pain and sight of his own flesh being eaten had been enough to stun him.

Josh hurriedly slammed the tip of his handgun's barrel into the strange zombie's temple and fired a single shot that came out the opposite temple. The zombie's legs immediately began to give away, but its body continued convulsing violently as it slid down onto the floor into a rotting heap of flesh. Ricky in turn wailed clutching his shoulder.

"Son of a bitch, you alright man!?" Josh asked worriedly, still showing an expression of shock from the strange occurrence.

"Do I fucking look it?!" Ricky asked furiously. The skin and a small portion of his shoulder muscle had been torn out of him, begetting severe bleeding. His uniform's arm began to spread a dark color of brownish red as the blood flowed and was absorbed into the fabric. "Don't just stand there and get the first-aid kit!" He ordered demandingly, making Josh instantly make a mad dash out of the room.

Ricky winced in agony as he sat down on the floor and drew the jet-injector loaded with the anti-virus. He held it out to Helene, wincing once again from the stress.

"Helene, pressurize it for me okay?" He asked, looking at Helene weakly.

"Okay…" Helene replied unsure if she knew how to work the injector in the first place. "So I just pull on this knob down here?" She asked, earning her response as a pained nod from Ricky. With a bit of strain, she managed to pressurize the injector for Ricky.

Taking back the jet injector, Ricky braced himself for his injection. He strained to get a tip for the injector from his pocket, earning help from Helene who handed one of them to the mercenary. After securing the tip of the injector, he pressed the device onto his left arm, the arm where the bite was inflicted. He applied pressure with his right arm as much as he could before pulling onto the injector's 'trigger'.

-

Josh ran through the chilly maze of corridors in a mad dash. He needed to run to the infirmary, grab the first-aid kit and run back, his friend needing immediate medical treatment. He had no worries about the zombie bite; remembering that Ricky had taken one of the anti-virus vials in case of something like this was to occur.

Reaching the infirmary in a matter of minutes, Josh barged in, noticed the first-aid kit on the sickbed and went to grab it. Before he could take the small kit with him, the vent cover in the upper left corner near the lockers burst open, startling Josh enough to drop the kit, eliciting a hissed cuss from him. A familiar creature revealed itself from the vent with its demonic face, letting out a familiar shrill scream.

"I don't have time for this!" Josh's mind yelled. The teen quickly scooted towards the kit and scooped it up with one hand, afterwards darting out of the room and slamming the metallic door shut. He could faintly hear a muffled slam as he headed back to the position of his injured friend.

It wasn't much different running back as it was originally getting to the infirmary. The soldiers' corpses and the blast ring, some droplets of blood, including his own, and mostly frosted metal and the cold vapor filled air, it was all familiar. He soon rounded the last corner in the direction of Stepanovitch's personal study, entering through the electronic doors and into the interior room.

"Hey guys, sorry it took so long." Josh blurted out as he approached his two companions. "I got the kit, nothing should be broken." he assured, getting a confused glance from Ricky. "I hit a little snag on the way back, never mind it." He retorted.

The procedure was very similar to what Ricky had done to Josh's shoulder with the bullet wound, aside from not requiring examining the wound for foreign objects. Josh took the liberty to spray the first-aid spray into the wound, this time letting Ricky feel what it felt like, referring to the stinging sensation the cold substance caused. Some simple bandaging was all that was needed, but a portion of Ricky's sleeve had to be torn off in order to do so and refrain infecting the wound later on by accident by the stained fibers.

"Feeling okay?" Josh asked with minor concern.

"Just fine," Ricky replied with a grunt as he shifted his position. "Gimme a few minutes…" He spoke in a sore tone, the stinging sensation not subsiding yet.

"Ya want some water?" Josh asked.

Ricky shook his head slowly in response. He simply sat there, breathing deeply, eventually putting the jet injector away. The teenage survivors waited patiently for their older friend so that they could move on in pursuit of the Genome embryo. Thus far two of them had become casualties, Josh with his slashed arm and bullet wound and now Ricky with the severe bite wound on his left shoulder. They still had the last floor to clear in order to reach the Genome and on the way the still had to stay vigilant regarding the monsters and Littman who was already several steps ahead of them.

"You think we'll stand a chance?" Helene spoke up, getting Josh's attention.

Josh contemplated on the question. He was mature enough to know that all ambitions don't always turn out the way you envision them at the start. Death was around every corner in the facility with more quantities of formidable monsters awaited them.

"I'm sure," He replied with little enthusiasm, partially lying on his own account. Thinking of dying was something humans had feared throughout their history. Some hoped they'll achieve supreme happiness by flying to the pearly gates of heaven, yet somehow whenever Josh thought about dying, it made him shiver. He didn't want to believe himself dying at any point in his youth, but the situation happening around him made it seem very possible.

Ricky grunted suddenly, eliciting the teens' attention. He stood up slowly, holding onto his bandaged shoulder. He picked up his dropped shotgun, though seemingly fine looked worse for the wear with his sweat and grime covered skin and hair, the blood stains on his face, the dried blood all over his clothing. "Let's get a move on."

The two left the study, now carrying with them the case for Stepanovitch's laptop, a fundamental piece of evidence containing classified files for not only Stepanovitch's personal research, but most likely information on Umbrella's underground activities. Keeping the laptop intact was now an essential part in their escape plan.

"I suggest leaving the laptop back where we left the two other cases." Josh spoke up without anyone even mentioning the device. "At the same time we could have a look-see at that one Stepanovitch had stashed away in his office." He added presenting the circular key they'd found.

"I suppose that'd be for the best." Ricky replied, "Alright, if Littman gets that embryo before we do, I guess I'll just have to shoot him behind his back." He added solemnly. Pulling down on the strap of his rifle, he began leading his companions back where they came from, going through the all familiar cold trap for the third time.

Just when the survivors were approaching the door to the infirmary, Josh suddenly tugged on Ricky's better hand, "Careful, there's a Licker in the infirmary." He warned, "It got in when I was fetching the med kit." He went ahead with his handgun trained at the metallic door, stepping as quietly as possible, aided by the hum of the facility's circulation system.

He kept his gun trained at the door and signaled his friends to follow. They quietly walked past the door until they rounded the turn towards the elevator. They finally reached their starting point where both the anti-virus and Stepanovitch's case rested hidden behind a corner widening the section for the elevator. Ricky promptly set the laptop's case next to the anti-virus case. Josh in turn approached the large metallic case with the circular key at hand.

"Okay Stepanovitch, let's see what kind of secrets you were holing up in here…" He quipped inserting the key into one of the circular holes. The lock at first felt stuck, but with an audible click the lock turned. Josh attempted to pull the key out of the lock, but the key hardly budged. "What the hell?" He mused all of a sudden.

"What's up?" Ricky asked raising a brow.

Josh tugged on the key even harder, but it wouldn't come loose no matter how hard he strained, "This goddamn thing's stuck!" He retorted with a frustrated grunt. Just as he let go of the key, the lock suddenly sprung back into its normal position and the key popped out of it. The survivors all looked back and forth at the lock and the key in astonishment.

"What just happened?" Helene asked in utter confusion.

Ricky picked up the key and performed the same what Josh did earlier. He placed the key into one of the two locks and turned, but once the key was turned far enough, he couldn't get it to budge either. He then deliberately loosened his hold, feeling how the key was forcing itself back to its initial position. That explained it all. The key was meant to function in such a manner, so the case would require two of the same kinds of keys, the locks were built with a spring-loaded mechanism so that using only one key would make the task impossible.

"It's spring-loaded." Ricky promptly concluded getting back up and pocketing the key. "So if we ever want to have access to whatever's inside that case, we're gonna need two keys."

Josh looked down at the case in thought, "Stepanovitch sure is going a long way to keep that thing shut…" He mused incoherently with his thumb under his chin. "Hey guys, what if this is…"

Just then the sound of a gun's safety going off abruptly interrupted Josh. Everyone looked down the hall and noticed an unclear silhouette enshrouded in the misty vapors. In an instant a shot rang out, causing the three survivors to flatten themselves onto the walls, the corners giving them some cover, but the unknowing assailant continued firing shot after shot. One of the shots ricocheted off the elevator's door, almost hitting Helene on the shin, missing her by only a few inches.

"Fuck, it's him!" Josh's mind screamed in terror.

The shooting stopped for a short while, but before anyone would dare to even peek, it began again. The survivors had their eyes darting between the elevator doors and the direction of the shooter. If the assailant got lucky enough one of them was going to be leaving with a busted knee which would never heal. Not taking anymore chances, Ricky as carefully as possible slid his assault rifle off and held it with one hand, pressing it loosely against the corner. He left out a short flurry of bullets, the assailant most definitely retreating for cover. Ricky cautiously peeked over the corner, not spotting anything through the vapor.

"I-is he g-gone?" Josh stammered, forcing himself to peek.

"Get back, he might…" Ricky whispered sharply, but then an oval object came flying through the vaporous air and bounced off the surface of the elevator door.. It didn't take long to see it was a grenade…

"Whoa! Holy shit!" Josh screamed in panic and, in an amazing form of retaliation, kicked the grenade towards the direction it had come from, seconds before a loud, thunderous explosion followed, startling all three survivors. Josh felt his legs turn to jelly as he landed on his rear, a look of disbelief and fear. He breathed uncontrollably as he looked at the dust cloud caused by the explosion.

But once again his luck was changing. The silhouette approached him through the vapor, once again a gun pointed towards his face. Looking up past the barrel with trembling lips and cold sweat trickling down his forehead, there he stood, a look of inhumane disdain cast down on Josh added with an itchy trigger finger. Josh couldn't control his fear any longer as the area between his legs began to feel damp and uncomfortably hot.

"You piece of shit…" hissed Littman, his finger beginning to press down harder onto the trigger…

-

A/N: How long has it been since my last update? Months prolly. Anyway, sorry for the long wait since high school's been keeping me busy along with my casual gaming and my new side project. I assure you the next won't take too long to be posted, so I'll start on it tomorrow. I swear that this story will be finished before or during spring, so don't give up on me yet.

I wanted to use this chapter to show that despite all they'd accomplished so far, our beloved survivors are still human. How will Josh and co. get outta this one? Just be patient and wait for my next update. Keep on rocking!


	28. Chapter 28: The Devil's Churn

Chapter 28: Devil's Churn

Josh shivered in uncontrollable fear as the lunatic soldier Harris Littman's finger began to tighten around the gun's trigger. He instinctively shut his eyes and hoped it would be quick and painless. But he could clearly hear Ricky stepping up to him defensively, cocking his rifle at the crazed soldier.

"Leave him alone you sicko!" He roared at Littman aggressively, his rifle's barrel almost poking into Littman's chest, but he looked down at it nonchalantly with no response. "I said leave him alone!" Ricky roared again, fighting the urge to plow Littman's face in with the butt of his rifle.

"This little shit bag fucking shot me…" Littman hissed disdainfully, darting his gaze between the terrified Josh and Ricky. "You think I'm gonna sit back for some fucking kid?!" Littman yelled in fury and instead of shooting, stomped Josh down from his chest, eliciting a pained yelp as his head was slammed painfully on the floor and his arm struck the side of the duralumin case, causing it to topple. Ricky almost pulled on his rifle trigger when Littman had, with incredible agility, grabbed hold of the barrel and had it trained at Helene, which ultimately ceased Ricky's actions.

Littman was sure to open fire despite the advantage Ricky had, but this pursuit went unfinished when a vent cover came falling down from above onto his head. The crazed U.B.C.S soldier was knocked down onto the ground by the aluminum construct, triggering his instincts to run away. Another large greenish Licker hung upside down from the ventilation shaft attempting to swipe at Littman for arousing its acute sense of hearing. Littman fled as fast as he could from the humanoid monster while Ricky and Helene flattened themselves next to the walls in fright.

Josh looked up shakily at the creature hanging only about four feet above his head. The creature seemed to have gone partially stationary, aside from its gruesome head which emanated sounds of silent, almost inaudible sniffing. The creature instantly was facing Josh, bearing its razor-sharp teeth as its tongue began to slither out of its demonic maw.

Suddenly, as if triggered by powers humankind could never comprehend, Josh held up his Beretta he'd failed to let go of and fired rapidly into the monstrosity's face. Bursts upon bursts of viral blood rained down on him after each shot added with the Licker's deafening death wail, which seemed to have no effect on Josh. The creature's head had been reduced into a hole-ridden bloodied mess by the time Josh's handgun ran out of bullets, a whole 20-bullets worth of shots. Despite the creature hanging down seemingly lifeless, in a state of deliria Josh continued pulling on the trigger, resulting in hollowed clicks. Ricky quickly came to his friend's aid and helped him up from the bloodied floor. Josh instantly dropped the gun and with an uncontrolled wail, reached for the elevator's button, the only thing holding him back being Ricky's considerably strong arms.

"Kid, calm down!" Ricky shouted, but it only elicited more frightened wails of fear from his younger companion. "Stay still!"

Words wouldn't work. Josh kept trying to run into the confines of the elevator in his uncontrollable state of panic. Incomprehensive grunts and wails continued escaping from his mouth in a seemingly endless fashion. Josh eventually found himself pressed against the wall and got slapped on his left cheek, instantly silencing him. He looked up towards Ricky's weary face with a dumbstruck expression. He soon began to wince and hold his burning cheek which began turning red.

"Did that snap you out of it?!" Ricky asked with an angered tone, startling Josh who didn't reply in any way. The boy's gaze just dropped to the floor. Ricky began shaking him furiously, "Speak to me for God's sake!"

Josh's lips began convulsing in mumbles. His gaze darted from the floor to Ricky, then the blast circle of Littman's previous assault, then Helene and lastly back to the floor. His lips began moving more noticeably until his teeth finally came bared, "Bullshit…"

All of a sudden Josh returned the favor by slapping his older companion on the cheek just as hard. This elicited a surprised yelp and made Ricky step backwards and Helene let out an almost silent gasp. Next to happen was Josh sliding off his backpack, kneeling next to it and began fitting 9mm rounds into his Beretta M93R's clip. "Okay, I feel much better now…" He spoke with a slight shiver present in his tone.

Ricky looked down at Josh dumbstruck as he rubbed his sore cheek, "By slapping me?!" He asked bewildered.

"Nah," Josh shrugged, "I've just been dying to do that." He added with a mischievous smirk. He began to snicker amusedly while his fingers fitted rounds into his clip, almost as if in automation. "I've been hoping to do that ever since you first attempt to persuade me into you-know-what." He said looking at Helene. He eventually finished replenishing his clip and fastened it back into his gun.

Ricky mumbled incoherently of the pain in his cheek, but decided he would deal with the matter with Josh later on. He slung his rifle on his back and picked up his SPAS-12, "Well at least we're alive." He murmured, "Okay, we know Littman's nearby, so we have to be careful unless we really want to die young and that is something I'm not looking forward to."

"You got that right," Josh replied scornfully, feeling considerably uncomfortable down 'there' after almost having his brains blown out, "Makes you wonder how someone could go as mad as him."

"You'd be surprised what war can cause." Ricky replied solemnly in remembrance to Littman's words during his initial standoff with the crazed soldier. A man who'd seen so much death and carnage that he'd begun to enjoy it to the fullest.

"But what are we gonna do about this?" Josh asked jerking his thumb at the duralumin case, "We need another one of those keys and God only knows where we can find one in this dump."

"What's this?" Helene suddenly spoke abruptly, catching Josh's attention. She knelt down and picked up something the others had missed to notice. She held it in the palm of her hand, a small rectangular object.

"Where'd you find that?" Josh asked curiously eyeing the object.

"I found it right there on the floor," She replied and pointed blindly around the area she stood, "Next to the case."

"Hey, look at this," Josh spoke up and knelt next to the case, he looked down at the bottom of the case, finding a small rectangular indentation on the surface, "Was there a hole here when we first found this thing?"

"How should we know?" Ricky shrugged, afterwards turning to Helene, "Can I see that thing for a sec?" He asked extending his hand where Helene promptly placed the plastic object. Ricky studied it fixatedly, not finding it as anything special. He however did take interest to a triangle-shape emblazoned on the surface of it, like on the bottom of a TV-remote which one had to push down on the reveal the battery compartment. He tried the same by pressing his thumb on the object's surface, eliciting a silent click and the surface came sliding off. Within the device was something that made his face beam. "Great news," He said with a cheerful tone as he extracted another key from the small compartment, the very same kind they required, "We have our key problem solved!"

Josh looked up at the key clasped between Ricky's fingers and the indentation on the bottom of the case. He didn't know whether to be either overcome with relief or simply dumbfounded by the puzzle Dr. Stepanovitch had put them through. Either way, now they could find out the secrets Stepanovitch hid within the case which had the keys required to open them hidden in a scientist's possession and on the very same thing the keys were needed for.

"Don't keep us in expense man," Josh spoke up and turned the chest so that its locks were in Ricky's direction, "Let's crack this mystery once and for all before we move on." He said with a hint of excitement in his tone.

Ricky knelt before the case and took out both of the circular keys. He drove both keys into their respective locks and turned them. One turned clockwise, the other counterclockwise until an audible click sounded from inside. Still gripping the keys, Ricky yanked the case open, surprised to hear a hiss similar to that of hydraulics they'd heard several times within the facility. He opened the chest to its widest, finding it filled with very unusual contents. Josh and Helene looked down in awe, moving closer to get a better look. The case was mostly just metallic compartments and indentations, something one would expect to see only in fictional movies. Placed right between into a large tubular indentation was a large vial. The vial had a metallic frame surrounding it in order to avoid breaking from impact. The vial's contents were definitely the most unusual. It was filled with a blue liquid, which almost looked as if it glowed like something out of this world.

Ricky carefully gripped the vial with both hands and pulled it loose from the case and looked at it fixatedly. Josh knelt down besides him, looking at the vial with both dread and interest. He also could have sworn that something was moving within it, but the condensed droplets on the vial's surface made it hard to know for sure. Just then something plastered onto the vial's surface, causing both of them to jump up in fright, but refrained from dropping the vial thankfully. They looked down on the strange object that stuck to the glass surface.

"What the hell is that thing?" Josh asked looking at the creature within the vial with disgust.

The thing within the vial was very similar to that of a leech. It appeared to have a flat, baggy body with an organ similar to a suction cup of some sort which it used to cling onto the glass. Josh winced in disgust as the organ seemed to open and close as it sucking on the glass. They could faintly make out thin almost line-like tendrils sprouting all around its body, which were also clung to the glass. Having gotten his fair share at looking at the abomination within the vial, Ricky carefully fastened it into its original spot in the case.

"What is it?" Helene asked curiously as she stood behind Josh, taking a look at the creature herself, "Ugh, it looks disgusting…" She grimaced.

"No joke…" Ricky nodded approvingly. He could see the thing adjust its position like a slug. "You don't suppose this is it?"

Josh glanced at Ricky, "You mean what we came for?" he asked, getting a sudden response with a firm nod, "Could be." He continued staring at the strange life form in amazement, "So this is Genome…" He mused incoherently. The ultimate creation of Dr. Stepanovitch, a parasitic embryo used in Umbrella's numerous varieties of bio-organic weapons. The very thing Helene's parents helped create was now in front of them in all its glory. Glory was a word Josh however would never use to emphasize the creature.

Ricky abruptly shut the case and stood up, grabbing the case by its handle, "Okay, let's get a move on!" He shouted abruptly.

"What's up Rick?" Josh asked surprised of his friend's sudden demeanor.

"We gotta get a move on before Littman finds out we have it!" Ricky blurted out. "C'mon, while the coast's clear!" He practically slammed his hand onto the elevator button. His brown rose in confusion as the doors didn't slide open. Her forcefully jabbed onto the button a few times and finally pounded it with his fist. "What's with this thing?!" He blurted.

"I think I know," Josh spoke up, "Remember that lockdown announcement?", he asked staring back mutely.

"How could I forget that?" Ricky asked in reference to his bitten shoulder, "So that's that huh? We're trapped in this overgrown freezer…" He concluded bluntly.

Helene gasped from the sudden turn of events. The Genome embryo, after all their hard work, was now in their possession, but now they couldn't leave. The coldness of the third belowground-level was enough to give her Goosebumps, but now they were trapped like rats, awaiting their inevitable demise either in the hands of the monsters, the crazed Harris Littman or eventual starvation. She began to shiver uncontrollably in fear. Her lips trembled uncontrollably.

"Helene?!" Josh gasped concerned, "You alright?"

"We're going to die…" Helene sniffed. She suddenly grabbed Josh by the shoulders and snapped, "We're trapped! Those monsters or that lunatic are going to kill us!" She screamed hysterically, "We're going to die! Josh, please, I don't want to die!"

"Helene calm down!" Josh retorted, but Helene then almost slammed her head onto Josh's shoulder and began to sob.

"I don't want to die…" She sobbed audibly, gripping onto Josh for dear life. "I'm scared."

"We're not going to die." Said Ricky flatly, as he set the Genome's case down.

"How can you be so sure about that?!" Helene blurted sharply, eliciting a startled glance form Josh. "We're trapped down here, there's no way out and there's a crazed killer on our tail! And the monsters, you care to remember all those things we've been fleeing from for the past four days?!" She began ranting in her hysteric state, "We won't have enough ammo to kill all of them and even if we do manage to fend them off, we don't have any provisions! We're going to die!"

"Shut up!" Josh suddenly yelled and tore himself from Helene's grip, "Helene, don't even think that!" He blurted demandingly, "The elevator's on a lockdown, so what?! We're in a high-tech facility which has got to have the most advanced security system up-to-date! Ya think we could at least try and think of a way to _unlock_ it?!"

Helene sniffed roughly staring back at Josh. At that moment she felt so small and insignificant that she decided to stay silenced. She turned away from her fellow survivors and crossed her arms, standing back in silence.

Josh then looked up a Ricky with his suggestion at mind, "Don't you think we could prolly unlock it?"

Ricky shrugged in response, "Dunno, but I think it should be worth a shot." He said pocketing the Genome's keys. "We'd best move on for now and see what we can find. If what you said is right, there just as well might be a way to open up this sucker."

"My thoughts exactly," Josh nodded in concurrence. He turned to the hysterical Helene who was moping in the corner silently. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, making her raise her head slightly, "Helene, if you want, you can stay here." He said emphatically, "I know this a tough toll on ya, so you can leave the rest to me and Rick."

Helene glanced over her shoulder. Turning back looking at the door, she contemplated. With a deep breath, she managed to clear her head for the time being and faced Josh. "I'll come with you."

"Are you sure?"

Helene nodded firmly, "I have to be strong, for my family's sake." She added, forcing a weak smile. "I can always depend on you to protect me if need be right?"

"You can count on me." Josh said and faked a salute, making Helene's smile widen about an inch. "As long as you continue supplying our cover fire."

"Yes sir." Helene nodded once again.

With that the survivors left the deadweight, both their evidence and fears back as they braved into the frozen labyrinth. They took their usual formation with Ricky taking the lead, Helene the center and Josh the rear. The terrain they'd covered no longer unnerved them, having passed the same corpses and blast ring more than twice. The lack of zombies was a luxury they'd approved of, but that would only mean they had to be wary of Umbrella's more outlandish creations.

Passing Stepanovitch's study, they took a left turn, meeting something they hadn't seen for a short while. Zombies; fresh killed or not, the very first adversary they had to deal with before learning of Umbrella's creation's true fruits. Their bodies were covered in frost and their blood had seemingly frozen into brownish stains on the floor.

"I'll give you two chances to guess who's work this is." Josh quipped solemnly.

"Just shut the hell up." Ricky spat from the front, well aware who awaited them. "That Littman is so going to get it if I even see a glimpse of him." He thought, secretly gritting his teeth in anger.

They came to a door to their right, one equipped with a sliding door. Ricky took the precaution of getting in close enough distance to its sensors, granting him the familiar hiss of hydraulics. He trained his shotgun and almost immediately let loose a buckshot, startling Helene. Ricky looked on mutely as a frosted zombie slumped down onto the ground with its head entirely decimated.

"At least their smell is toned down," Helene remarked, satisfied of the lack of the zombie's gut wrenching stench the aboveground reeked of.

Ricky went inside the room and let loose another blast, earning the same results in addition to damaging some glass fitted cupboard. The room was some sort of storage housing several types of toxic and volatile substances in locked cupboards and air compressed containers. Luckily his blast didn't damage anything that could cause certain harm to humans.

"These guys have more poisons than my science class." Josh chortled at his remark as he looked over some chemical bottles. They were the size of small jars and colored yellow. Its etiquette showed information he couldn't really understand, other than the orange rimmed warning that read: Volatile, Hazardous. He instantly got an idea that compelled him to grab one of the bottles and place it in his coat's pocket. "Might come in handy…" He thought.

"Doesn't seem like there's anything we need." Ricky called out, so the survivors went back into the equally chilling corridor.

Once again they moved on, finding more downed zombies and even one of the strange greenish Lickers, the coldness having completely frosted its moist skin and exposed brains. The survivors moved as fast as they could to retain adequate body temperature. The bloody smears were enough to indicate the creature dying in a fight instead of just the below-zero temperature. They thanked their luck for not running into any of the living abominations since it was making their trek much easier and wouldn't have minded if it had stayed that way.

"Who am I kidding?" Josh thought to himself, glancing behind him. "This is Raccoon City we're talking about…"

The survivors passed a few doors, figuring that passing a door or two would be too substantial of a change. They needed to conserve their ammunition despite being well stocked for the time being. Remembering their encounter with the monster dubbed Tyrant, it seemed capable of withstanding considerate amount of punishment from most conventional firepower. Umbrella's monsters denied all natural logic. They all possessed inhuman strength and stamina, making them more resistant to physical punishment. Added with their ferocious temperament and agility, they seemed almost like the next stage of the world's evolution brought forth before their intended time.

They came to a corner turning right. Ricky flattened himself against the wall and cautiously peeked around it. The corridor widened considerably, a wide door present at the middle of the opposite wall. He rounded the corner, signaling Josh and Helene to follow. They discovered two sliding doors to their right, but their attention was caught by the wider double doors, which appeared to have some sort of black runes positioned to form something resembling a large feudal-style gate.

"Not the most artistic piece of work…" Josh mused looking at the doors.

"This is the elevator that takes us to the last floor," Ricky informed after looking up from his map, "No doubt about it."

"So how do we work this thing?" Josh asked looking around the elevator's construct, "There's no button or anything."

Helene in turn had taken notice of a steel plate on the wall right from the elevator. Bolted onto it in golden frames were a set of words:

_Gates of Heaven_

_The realm of our one and only Lord, giver of life and all existence. Through confession of ones Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride, can only then he purify thou soul. But if thou fail to grasp his loving hands, will the gates of eternal paradise not open for you._

Also underneath the text she discovered two holes with the words 'Lord's left hand' and 'Lord's right hand' written underneath them.

"You guys might want to take a look at this." She spoke up. Josh and Ricky walked over and took a look at the plate on the wall for themselves, "This must be which opens the doors. But what do you suppose this means?" Helene asked as she trailed her finger just below the text.

""Grasp his loving hands"?" Josh asked with a look of confusion. "What the hell is this? Another puzzle on Christianity?" He blurted, though deep inside not intending to sound offensive, being a Christian himself to a certain extent. Now that he'd thought of it, his faith had strengthened during the course of the outbreak, something which people often experience during times of great peril. He'd felt like this faith was giving him some form of unfathomable power to carry on through the arduous hurdle, but it could have been only his mind playing tricks on him.

"Well as much as I find it sort of interesting how they came up with this system, I think we already 'grasp his hands'." Ricky replied sarcastically emphasizing the ending of the sentence. He then presented the two keys used to open the Genome's container.

"How can keys that were made for a completely different device be used on this?!" Josh asked dumbfounded.

"Look at the holes kid." Ricky said pointing his finger towards the two holes. Josh did as suggested and took a closer look at the indentations. "Notice they're round, just like the keyholes in the container?"

"So?" Josh spoke raising a brow, "How can you be sure it requires the exact same ones?"

"Gut feeling," Ricky replied with an innocent shrug, the corner of his mouth forming a half-smile. This caused Josh to lower his brow and chuckled amusedly.

"You ever think of a detective's job?" Josh asked wryly.

Just then one of the two doors opposite of the elevator shot up. Just before the three survivors could make out what came out, it dashed out and grabbed onto Helene. The oriental girl screamed as a strong arm wrapped itself around her upper chest and heard a gun cocking, soon feeling cold steel press against her temple. Josh and Ricky instinctively trained their weapons at the ambusher, but were deterred from opening fire.

"I knew you little shits would turn up eventually…" Hissed the familiar voice of Harris Littman. He stood just behind Helene, having her caught in a one-armed interlock hold and pressed his SIG Pro hard onto her temple, his finger retaining its itchiness. He sneered at the male survivors maliciously while Helene whimpered in his grasp. "You better be careful where you point those things. We don't wanna risk an 'accident'. Now do we?"

"Leave her alone Littman!" Ricky growled demandingly, his aim beginning to waver.

"Now what's fun with that?" the crazed ex-assassin asked with a malicious smirk on his stubbly face, "To tell you the truth, it's been quite a while since I've blown a bitch's brains out…" He snickered with malevolence, hearing how Helene's whimpering increased.

"Let her go you fruitcake!" Josh roared aggressively taking a step forward, but that only made Littman press his gun onto Helene even harder, causing her to cringe from pain.

"Watch it boy, another step and my finger might slip." Littman replied more bitterly, "I won't assure your little slut of a girlfriend will remain unharmed…" He then pointed his gun towards Josh whose body instinctively tensed, "So fess up! What was this thing about keys I overheard?!" He asked demandingly.

Ricky growled in frustration as he presented the two circular keys. Littman squinted his eyes as he looked down on them. His questioning expression was replaced with a satisfied smirk, "So you have 'em."

Ricky didn't say a word. He tried to seem as calm and straightforward as possible to hide the keys' second purpose. He knew the crazed soldier was after the Genome embryo himself, having killed off Dr. Jonouchi Nayami in order to find its location. Ricky also knew that if Littman was unaware of the whereabouts of the embryo sample, he would probably head off to where the product of the embryo lied.

"I'll give you the keys," Ricky began, careful in choosing the correct words, "But if I do, promise you'll let Helene go free." He stated with a demanding tone.

Littman scoffed in amusement, "Alright, I'll let you off easy this time," He spoke disdainfully, "Just toss the keys here and the bitch is free."

Ricky bitterly obliged and gently tossed the keys, watching as they both bounced and slid a few inches on the floor. Littman responded by taking his gun off Helene's temple and forcefully pushed her towards Ricky who quickly caught her. Littman scooped up both of the keys, constantly keeping his gun trained at the survivors. The three watched fixedly as the U.B.C.S supervisor put the keys in one at a time and turned them. He was granted by the double doors opening, revealing another double door, this one having a set of controls on the side of it. The loony soldier looked at the survivors with a somewhat daring smile.

"Much obliged shitheads." The soldier chuckled. "However…" He began to step towards the survivors, presenting a seemingly dangerous ambition. "I'm not at all convinced you can't help but go after me as soon as I reach the bottom…"

Ricky eyed Littman warily as the crazed soldier looked at the group, seemingly taking all his willpower to keep his itchy trigger finger in check. Suddenly Littman reached for Helene and once again had her in a tight interlock and his gun once again pressed against her head.

"You bastard!" Josh snapped furiously, his anger driving him into pointing his gun at Littman.

Littman eyed at Josh with a look of false-disappointment, "No, you don't want to be pointing that gun at me junior, unless you want your girlfriend's brains splattered all over the floor." He spoke, his words once again presenting his inhumane antics.

Josh growled in frustration as he was forced to lower his weapon. The man before him disgusted him the moment he'd laid eyes on him, and the scorn was increasing more rapidly than Umbrella's caused mortalities.

Littman began moving backwards towards the elevator, forcefully pulling onto Helene as he went. He appeared to be enjoying every moment of the torment he was putting on the survivors. For a moment he took the gun off Helene's head to push the elevator button, returning the gun afterwards to its previous position. Helene dared not to resist, knowing Littman was willing to kill anyone with enthusiasm, herself not being an exception. In just a few moments the elevator arrived, the doors opening automatically.

"Smell you later fuckers!" Littman shouted immaturely as the doors shut, leaving him and his hostage out of sight.

Josh suddenly growled and forcefully chucked his gun on the floor. "You son of a bitch!" He hollered in spite. As soon as the words were said, the youth slumped down on his knees and wallowed on the floor in defeat, "Helene…" he whispered in pain.

Ricky hurriedly ran to the elevator and began jabbing on the button himself, but much to his anticipation, it did nothing. He angrily slammed his fist onto the steel doors, grunting from the very same frustration Josh was feeling. Now that they were separated from Littman and Helene by the elevator, any minute their friend would next be seen lying lifeless with a fresh bullet hole in her head, or maybe worse…

-

Helene breathed heavily in fear, after being slammed almost face forward into the elevator's back wall. Littman had turned his back and in a casual manner pushed the button leading to the last floor of the facility. After that the crazed madman stood there in awkward silence, having one hand pressed against his side, which unbeknownst to Helene was the area where Josh's bullet wound had left its mark.

Helene dared not to say anything or even produce even the slightest of noise. She couldn't count on being unharmed up to the time the elevator reached its destination. Littman was as deranged as anyone could get.

"You better enjoy the last few seconds of your life bitch." Littman spoke over his shoulder, lighting a cigarette in the process. "When those doors open, the first thing you'll see is my gun in your face and 'bam'." He spoke informingly.

Helene silently gasped, her fear of death beginning to take over. She couldn't defend herself at this point, having her gun bashed from her hands. She however managed to feel something on her waist, something that bulged from beneath her shirt. She then remembered back aboveground when she and Ricky had swapped handguns upon her own realization that the SOCOM was too powerful for a person of her experience. She attempted to draw it, but in the most inappropriate moment, the elevator came to an abrupt stop and before she knew it, found herself forcefully pushed out of the elevator and onto the cold, metallic floor.

"I hope you had a good run you dyke." Littman spoke with his always belittling voice as he walked out of the elevator. "But hey, what do I care? You're just an insignificant piece of shit like the rest of 'em." He added as he'd walked a foot past Helene.

Helene could now longer hold in her hate for the psychotic man and finally spoke with vile contempt, "You must have very little faith in humanity…"

That instant Littman turned and aimed his gun at the downed girl, his left eye twitching noticeably.

"What would you know about faith bitch?" He asked with an unusually grim tone, the corner of his mouth forming into a toothy half-frown.

"You killed innocent people," Helene retorted, managing to get up to her knees with her hand strangely close to her rear, "Including my father." She continued fighting back a sniffle.

"Tough," Littman scoffed, "It was that idiot's fault for trusting me in the first place. But hey, no hard feelings, at least thanks to him, the Genome will be back in safe hands where it belongs."

"What does Umbrella want with all this?!" Helene shouted with mustered strength, doing little to even startle the disturbed soldier. "If you're going to kill me, then so what if I know what they want with their abominations?!"

Littman smirked devilishly while still keeping Helene at gun point, "You really wanna know?" He asked, seeming to poorly stiffen a belittling snicker. "To tell you the truth, even I don't know. Zombies, Lickers, Hunters and shit, all warfare products from what I gather. I'm not here for the knowledge; I'm here for the pleasure of killing anyone who snoops too much for their own good, kinda like you, and that little schmuck who shot me."

Helene grimaced angrily at the deranged Littman who seemed to be having a blast from tormenting her with his inhumane tales of putting people through jeopardy. Littman took notice and thought up another sadistic plan to unnerve Helene before eventually ending her life.

"That reminds me," He spoke with a seemingly interested tone, "What's the story behind you and the schmuck, he your boyfriend or something?" He asked raising a brow.

"That doesn't concern you!" Helene retorted, feeling for the handgun concealed under her shirt. It was a long shot, and she was only a young gun, but now was the last chance to save herself.

"Oh I see, you're pissed 'cuz you never got fucked aren't ya?" Littman sneered, followed by maniacal giggling, his eyes widened like an excited little boy's. "But then again, who the hell'd wanna fuck you?! I shot and fucked bitches like you back in the day, and you sucked!" Littman's demeanor had completely changed from his own personal nostalgia, his hand beginning to shake from the excitement, managing to frighten Helene more than any zombie she'd come across. "I'm gonna blow your virgin ass down to hell bitch!" Littman yelled with a more high-pitched tone, his trigger finger beginning to apply pressure.

Just when Helene thought it was over, help arrived in the strangest of ways. Before Littman was able to pull the trigger, a pair of rotting arms grabbed him from behind. This elicited a shrilled scream from the crazed soldier as he practically tore himself loose from a zombie's grip. Then came another hiss of hydraulics, a door that Littman had been standing in front of opened, revealing a horde of the undead of varying shapes and sizes. They all bore varying stages of decomposition, some still recognizable from their time as humans, others hardly indistinguishable. Some were draped in what looked like bloodied hospital gowns, others clad in the familiar Umbrella scientist's or technician's outfit, some of them were even nude. The familiar cacophony of grunts and groans permeated through the air, as if meant to boost their terrifying appearance.

Littman let out another high-pitched scream and began gunning at the seemingly unending horde of zombies. Helene took this chance to stand up and draw the SIG pistol. She made a mad dash towards the elevator which luckily was still there. She urged herself to look back at Littman who was taking quick steps backwards as he loaded his own SIG.

Suddenly an urge of malice began to overcome her. She pointed the gun towards the combating U.B.C.S soldier, intent of making him pay for his actions. She had the weapon trained at the lunatic's head, just a pull of the trigger would end it all, and Littman would be dead. No… it wasn't enough. He was to suffer, just like she'd been made to suffer by his and his paymaster's fault. She trained the gun down to Littman's tibia and fired. She watched as the crazed soldier collapsed on his knees, letting out a pained yell, followed by a bald zombie grabbing his shoulders. Littman managed to plow the rotting cadaver off him with a powerful punch, but the zombies continued advancing. He fired from a kneeling position, missing the following zombie's head and instead the zombie lunged at him, knocking him on his back.

Helene watched from inside the elevator as the zombie's advanced. Littman continued screaming with his crazed high-pitch voice as he tried seemingly in vain to fight off the zombies, his shotgun inaccessible due to him lying on it. Helene finally had enough of the scene of gore and pressed the elevator button, closing the steel doors, deafening Littman's screams and the zombie's moans. As the elevator began to ascend, she suddenly fell to her knees, disgraced…

-

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch…" Josh hissed, still kneeling prostrated on the ground, his hands tightened into fists that could probably at that stage crush steel from the looks of them. He was so angry that he couldn't think straight. His lust for revenge and killer instincts once again awakened.

Ricky, instead of moping like his younger cohort, was hurriedly preparing his gear for a surprise assault against the crazed Harris Littman. He quickly checked his current rifle clip, finding it to be full and attaching it back to his weapon. He approached the elevator and pushed the button. He waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive so he'd have even the slightest of chances to catch up with Littman and deal justice to their friend's demise.

He heard the elevator ascending, hearing the clanging of the safety activating, followed by the rumble of the double doors opening. Unexpectedly he was met with a joyful surprise, "Helene, you're alive!" He exclaimed surprised, followed by a very relieved sigh from the U.B.C.S grunt.

There she knelt unscathed on the bottom of the elevator, a handgun at hand and a look of disbelief on her face. Upon hearing the familiar and comforting voice of Ricky, she stood up, seeming to look down her arm which grasped the gun. She looked back up, noticing Josh approaching her. A look of disbelief plastered on his face, he walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulder, possibly to prove he wasn't in delusion.

"Dear God…" Josh sniffed, embracing Helene tightly, "I thought you were a goner…" He felt even more assured of not hallucinating when Helene's free arm patted him on the back comfortingly. Proven right that the person in his arms was Helene and not an illusion of his incredulity, he pulled back from the embrace. "How the hell did you escape?!"

Helene looked down at her SIG sidearm before replying, "Zombies and a gunshot…" with a seemingly sorrowed tone. "I just can't believe I killed someone…"

Josh darted his gaze upwards and sighed in disbelief, not expecting Helene of all people resorting to shooting a person. Looking back at his wavering mental wellbeing, it had seemed imminent that he'd be the youngest in the group to resort to killing someone. He looked back down at Helene who looked utterly disgraced from her actions.

"Don't worry about it too much, at least you got revenge for your father." Josh replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could in the situation, hoping to lessen the mental stress Helene was now enduring from resorting to murder, even if the murdered was a crazed killer himself. "The important thing is you're safe and we can all work on getting out of this dump."

"Absolutely", Ricky concurred, "But Helene, those zombies you mentioned." He looked at her with a solemn expression, "Did you manage make out their numbers?"

Helene nodded weakly, "Well over ten, fifteen to say the least." She spoke.

"Nothing we can't handle…" Josh shrugged, "We've got enough firepower to lay down a bunch of zombies no sweat."

Ricky looked at the elevator in thought for a second before concluding, "Yea, and I got an idea." He confirmed with a sure nod. "We can use the elevator for an advantage as well. Me and Josh will be the gunners, while Helene, you be ready to pull the elevator back up if it looks like we're getting our own asses handed to us on a plate. Then we just retry afterwards. That okay?"

Josh smirked and nodded firmly, "Yea, it works for me…" he said and holstered his handgun, un-strapping his MP5 afterwards. "Time to give this bad boy a go…", he then remembered something and walked away from the elevator. He knelt down, picking up Helene's Steyr, walked to her and presented her the weapon. "Where would we be without our favorite sniper?" He asked with a warm smile on his face.

Helene looked up at Josh before taking back her rifle, managing a small, somewhat timid smile. At the same time Ricky opened the elevator, un-strapped his newly acquired SPAS-12 shotgun and placing on the floor in case he needed a quick change in arms.

"You better go through your gear before heading off kid," Ricky called out informing Josh, "Remember that even if they get a nibble of ya, it'll still be calamitous."

After quickly checking his gear, finding no need to refill his current clips, Josh was ready as well as his two companions. They all boarded the elevator and pressed the button, beginning the descent. Both Josh and Ricky stood prepared to gun down anything not among the living.

"Hey kid, remember that you start shooting when the doors are opened wide enough." Ricky instructed the young military fanatic, "Don't go trying to pull of any stunts, cuz' if a bullet hits those doors, it's gonna bounce and one of us will take the shot."

"I know. I'm not that dumb!" Josh replied curtly.

The elevator suddenly stopped, eliciting Josh and Ricky to train their guns towards the elevator doors. Their muscles tensed as the waited for the doors to slide open and reveal their adversaries. Helene stood flattened against the elevator's left sided wall with her hand near the control pad incase they needed to make a break for it.

The doors then slid open, revealing their numerous undead adversaries, their putrid stench immediately assaulting the survivors' noses, causing them to feel like their eyes were watering. But now was not the time for complaints and the survivors opened fire with their full-automatics. Hot lead immediately began to tear through rotting flesh, sending spurts of viral blood everywhere. They did little attempts at aiming; only keeping their guns trained at the zombies' heads' level to ensure they dispatched them as quickly as possible with headshots. Head after head became marred worse than from the decay and the bodies lifelessly slumped down in piles.

Both survivors had to reload hastily before resuming the onslaught. Any new zombies in their visions were immediately downed, followed by a new rotting cadaver. After a good few minutes of repeated deafening rapid-fire, the floor before them was almost as if it had been carpeted by corpses, the sickly odor being poorly suppressed by the smell of gunpowder. Josh in relief slumped his back onto the back of the elevator and wiped a profuse amount of sweat off his forehead. Ricky was able to keep his footing despite enduring yet another mentally arduous task. He sighed relaxing his shoulders.

"There's just no way Littman got past all that." Josh said figuratively, at least he could rest not having to end up shooting a living man, even if Littman was a psychopath.

"Yea, saved us the trouble of killing him myself…" Ricky retorted wearily, grasping his head from the sudden headache brought on by the rattling gunfire.

"You going to be okay?" Josh asked, himself having an uncomfortable ring in his ears, getting a response in the form of a laid-back wave.

"Yea, yea." Ricky replied nonchalantly, "Need I remind you I actually went on runs in the military."

Josh said nothing and stood up from his leaning position. The survivors cautiously maneuvered around the carpet of corpses, feeling sick to their stomachs from the terrible smell. They entered a stuffy corridor through the sliding door which refused to open thanks to the close proximity of the dead bodies. Another door awaited them at the end, which required a cardkey. With a swipe of theirs through the card reader, they were granted a high-pitched beep and the door slid open.

-

It once again sighted a minor adversary, another Licker clinging to the wall, hissing aggressively. It suddenly let out a shrill shriek, common for its species and pounced for its target, only to be swatted down like an overgrown insect. Before it could begin to retaliate, a set of claws buried themselves through the sickly humanoid's torso, eliciting another shriek, this time one of pain. The Licker convulsed violently for a short while before it became completely motionless, signaling the creature to pull its claws out, once again licking the blood off them. It then carried on its path of destruction, walking slowly with heavy steps.

-

"Fucking vermin…"

Harris Littman, amazingly still alive, tread through the dark corridors. He slumped onto a pipe covered wall, holding a fresh bite wound on his right bicep. He breathed heavily as he did his best to endure the pain. However, his mentality had wavered even farther than before…

"I'm gonna murder that dyke… and the schmuck of a boy…" He hissed, knowing well that he was now infected by the T-virus, his demise seeming evident unless he'd procure the anti-virus, but how could he be sure where to find it. "If I turn into a rotting bag of puss I hope I'm smart enough to eat that little bitch's fanny." He growled and continued to advance.

He was suddenly startled, something which was practically impossible to achieve, by a high-pitched wail of some sort.

"What the fuck was that?!" He mused with a surprised tone. Straightening himself for the time being, he began to cautiously tread through the darkness, having his SPAS-12 shotgun at the ready.

-

The new surroundings that opened before the three survivors differed from any other section of the underground facility. The room they had walked in was much darker than most of the secret basement, the floor being solid concrete. Also a small load of wooden crates were placed in neat rows in the sides, the contents unknown for the time being. Several tubular lamps were bolted to the roof, but it seemed as if it'd been a while since their last replacement, a few of them flickering profusely.

"Looks like a bomb shelter if you ask me…" Josh figured, seeing as the room seemed very old, possibly dating back far before his birth.

"Perhaps it was before Umbrella came along." Ricky replied assumingly, "Must have taken a fortune to renovate this entire complex."

"Yea, it makes you wonder how they got all that money in the first place…" Josh agreed with Ricky's guess. "You think they were crazy to begin with? Like, their head died and became replaced by some disrespected lunatic who spent way too long in his own world?"

"Who knows, Umbrella's been around since the sixties from what I gather." Ricky explained briefly before he began to advance, "This is likely some sort of safety area."

"What makes you say that?" Helene asked puzzled.

"That," Ricky pointed out, indicating a heavy blast door, similar to the one they saw on floor B1. "And our poor little friends from back there just couldn't quit themselves…"

Josh scoffed in response, "What a bunch of pussies," He suddenly glanced at Helene, "No offence. But seriously who'd be too scared of that knowing you'll just get back up?"

"Fear of death is natural kid. Even if it were for the greater good, I don't think anyone's too eager to be six feet under." Ricky explained, eliciting a shivering feeling from Helene, having heard too much of death-related verbs and nouns. "Goes to show you why scumbags like Umbrella need to be brought to justice."

"Yea, like Hitler should've been." Josh replied in reference to one of the most vile and malicious human beings in history who brought on the holocaust, but unfortunately the fuehrer had apparently ended his own life.

"We'll discus racism later, now let's see what's behind door number one…" Ricky quipped before taking a hold of the blast door's valve and with minor strain managed to turn it, eliciting a metallic whine. With a heave the door came opened, only to be met with a rotten hand protruding from between the gap.

The area behind the blast door had been sealed for a good reason; congregated in greater numbers than ever before seen by the three survivors were more zombies. Josh yelped in response and opened fire towards the first cadaver, but it did little good as another followed soon after, and the vault door began to widen more with the rest of the undead pushing onto it from within, eager to break out and feed.

"Fall back, everybody!" Ricky hollered through the all too familiar cacophony of inhuman groans before firing off a burst.

The survivors made a break for it, seeing as there were far too many zombies for three people to combat. It seemed impossible for there to be so many zombies in a facility, but then again these zombies didn't seem like they'd been just accidentally infected. Another good source of the aforementioned idea was that the zombies were either naked or draped in bloodied hospital gowns. These zombies must have been corralled test subjects for the virus, but whatever Umbrella needed them for was best left uncertain.

"Fuck! Getting through these guys won't be done anytime soon!" Josh shouted as he with quick, but controlled movements of his body mowed down some of the walking dead.

"No need to! I see an open vent!" Ricky replied through the gunfire and hungered groans. He nodded towards the direction to a wooden crate next to the blast door, a vent conveniently placed just above it. "Make a break for the crate!"

Josh and Helene didn't need to be told twice as they swerved around the zombie horde towards the crate. Josh gave Helene a quick boost, letting her get on top of the crate first before he was helped up himself. They watched as Ricky ran sideways towards the crate while using the rest of his clip to mow down any zombies that got too close. Without even any aid the former Navy SEAL cadet jumped and with the aid of his powerful arms pulled himself on top of the crate. The zombies however, due to their lack of the intelligence they once possessed' began reaching up for the survivors, their glazed eyes looking up at them lifelessly with their eerie gazes. Josh swore to have noticed one zombie missing its lower jaw, feeling such pity what once fine human beings had been subjected to such horrors and be thieved of a peaceful death. He had to shake off the thoughts since the zombies might have toppled the crate at any moment. The main ambition for now was to survive.

Ricky volunteered to go first as he got down onto his stomach and crawled into the stuffy vent, followed shortly by Helene and soon after by Josh, leaving behind the legion of zombies and their terrifying guttural groans. Much to their assumptions the ventilation duct was almost pitch dark, Josh being hardly capable of making out Helene's sneakers, but thankfully he was going slowly enough not to drive his face into them.

"There's another open vent just up ahead." Ricky called out from ahead.

"Who the hell came through here in the first place?" Josh wondered as he progressed, hearing how Ricky was having trouble climbing down from the vent due to being unable to turn around. Josh was suddenly startled upon hearing the soldier yelp and fall out of the vent, hearing a profanity afterwards.

"Are you alright Ricky?" Helene asked popping her head out of the vent.

"Yea, yea, just bruised myself…" Ricky muttered coherently, appearing to rub his forearms with a pained grimace, "But never mind, let me help you guys out."

After helping the two teenagers out of the vents, they observed their new surroundings. A prominent smile crept up on Josh's face upon noticing that they'd seemed to have reached the armory, albeit some of the weapons had already been taken.

"Damn!" Josh mused upon seeing the various armaments within the room. Weapon lockers containing all sorts of heavy weaponry, shelves lined with weapon caches containing various types of handguns, including similar revolvers he and Helene carried and more Beretta M93Rs. Also lining most of the shelves were various types of ammunition. Also in the very corner sat an electronic M-134 Vulcan minigun.

"Hmm, looks like we hit the mother load." Ricky quipped looking around the room, figuring now where they should return to if they were in a dire need of firepower. "Okay, we'll re-stock and move out again, that alright?"

"Sure thing," Josh replied with a shrug, afterwards he slung his heavy backpack off and began emptying it from the shotgun shells he'd found at the shooting range which were now of no use to him due to his trusty shotgun now lying somewhere on the B1 floor a puddle and a grip. He however was thankful as he could now leave more room for the preferred 9mm ammunition his MP5 sub-machinegun and Beretta used, thus diminishing the unnecessary weight the shotgun shells had put on him.

The survivors took whatever they would have required whilst not slowing down their movement. Josh stocked up on 9mm ammunition, clips for both the MP5 and the Beretta, finding out how much easier it was to move with a lighter backpack. He also took the liberty of taking a few extra speed loaders for his and Helene's magnums, knowing there might have been more Hunters and Lickers, perhaps even abominations they'd not yet encountered aboveground or on the previous floors. Ricky in turn found a good reason to discard his SPAS-12 shotgun, having located a Remington 870 Auxiliary, a type of shotgun miniature he mounted onto the bottom of his M4A1 rifle, thus also shedding some unnecessary weight off his person. He also acquired a flashlight attachment, making his weapons seem much bulkier and wicked in appearance. He also stocked up on Colt. 45 ACP ammo for his SOCOM sidearm and a few extra grenades. Helene needed very little addition for her arsenal, still preferring to stick to her Steyr AUG 9mm rifle.

After re-stocking their arsenal, also feeling more comfortable with the loss of deadweight, they exited the armory. They now found themselves inside a darkened hallway, a set of red tubular lights now handling the minor illumination. The red shade of their surroundings managed to unnerve Josh, feeling inconclusively dreadful in the dark. There weren't any signs of danger, hearing only the hum of the internal ventilation system, and the footsteps of Ricky as he walked slightly farther from the armory, testing out the brightness of his new flashlight attachment. The hallway seemed to have large sets of pipes going along them, and the area was now mostly made of concrete instead of metal like the previous floors. The area also smelled a tad damp, indicating possible existence of mold.

"These Umbrella scumbags seem to have a thing for Dr. Frankenstein-ish décor." Josh quipped, taking the precaution to make sure his MP5's safety was off for the time being. Over the past four days he'd felt like he'd been forced into a real-life horror movie, but knowing just how real everything he'd encountered thus far, it was now more than just a fight for survival. It had developed into a war, not with man and monsters, but the dreaded Umbrella Corporation.

"Well whatever their preferences, we better move onto a more illuminate surrounding," Ricky urgently responded, "C'mon, follow me," He informed and began walking right from the door, sticking close to the wall.

Ricky yelped all of a sudden as his light picked up another zombie, this one also terribly disfigured all around its body, also noticing that this one was also nude. In an instant a loud, thundering blast echoed throughout the tunnel, the zombie having its entire cranium decimated.

-

Littman's ears perked up upon hearing the blast, either a buckshot or an explosion, her could not tell. He suddenly smirked upon realizing the cause.

"So those faggots followed me…" He chuckled malevolently, his left eye twitching from the feeling of anticipation. "Good, I can blow that dyke and brat to hell. That should satisfy, seeing as I might be turned to one of those piles of puss…" He hissed, feeling the stinging pain in his arm, remembering that his time as a human may have been coming to a close.

-

"Geez, it was just a zombie." Josh said flatly, proving his fear towards the zombies had been fully subsided.

"I didn't see it coming alright?" Ricky retorted sharply, eliciting Josh to raise his brows in surprise, perhaps also from intimidation. Ricky may have been a good fellow by Josh's standards, but hen in a bad mood the ex-Navy SEAL troop was rather intimidating.

Just as they progressed through the tunnel, Ricky noticed they'd come up to a door, this one equipped with a card reader. The dimness made him not bother to check the map, so Ricky simply swiped the cardkey through the reader, once again awarded with a high-pitched beep and the door slip open. He entered a slightly more illuminated room, but was suddenly startled at the sound of a gun firing, noticing a spark cracking off the wall to his left.

"Don't move!" Yelled a deep, authoritative voice from the right side of the room. Carefully glancing in that direction, Ricky made out a figure, definitely pointing a gun at him.

"Wait, hold your fire!" Ricky called out, letting his adversary know he was startled.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" The figure asked, approaching Ricky with the gun still pointed at him. Upon getting close enough, Ricky made him out as a man, likely in his fifties with slicked back grey hair and was clad in a blue dress shirt adorned with a red tie and black jeans with expensive looking leather shoes. Pinned to his shirt was an ID tag with a small photo of the man and the name Kane Randolph printed on it.

"We're just survivors, no need to point that gun at me!" Ricky responded, raising his free hand to poorly indicate he meant no harm.

The man lowered his gun, but still eyed Ricky with suspicion. "Come in," he spoke with a tired, weary voice, eliciting Josh and Helene to join in, eliciting raised brows from the man. "Alright, tell me, who are you and what are you doing in a place like this? And with children!"

Ricky lowered his rifle in response, "Private Ricky Wallace, U.B.C.S. These are Josh and Helene, kids I met aboveground. I'm trying to get us outta this dump so we can escape the city limits." He explained his antics as straight forward as possible, earning support from a nod from Josh.

The man raised a brow in surprised as he holstered his handgun onto his belt, "Dr. Kane Randolph. I worked here for the vaccinations program and as an assistant to the Genome Program."

"So, another Umbrella shitbag responsible for the destruction of an entire American suburb?" Josh asked bitterly, giving the scientist a spiteful look.

"Unfortunately, yes I am." Randolph sighed wearily as he turned his back to the survivors and walked a few steps away, holding his head.

"Sorry about the kid's behavior," Ricky replied, "He's been through a lot."

"It's understandable," Randolph replied, sitting down on a section of piping on the wall, "Seeing what my benefactors have on demand anyway. But what are you doing down here in the first place? You could escape much easier through aboveground."

"Yea…" Ricky began as he rubbed the back of his neck, "We've got some business to do down here. We've been sorta gathering evidence against these benefactors of yours. And now we got locked in and we're now trying to find a different route outta here."

"I see," Randolph replied with a concurring nod, "But trying to find an escape route from here now is much more than just risky private Wallace." He spoke with a grave tone.

"What do you mean?" Josh asked raising a brow, prepared to hear the horrifying details.

"I assume you heard the announcement of a breach a short while ago, did you not?" Randolph asked, despite already knowing the obvious answer.

"That would be affirmative…" Ricky replied with a nod, "But why didn't this place lock down earlier when the outbreak began?"

"The lockdown is only reserved for the highest level of danger private," Randolph explained, "It is to give any remaining people the chance to escape, but seeing as the Genome has now escaped its containment, it's too risky to let anyone out."

"The Genome?!" Josh asked dumfounded.

"You've heard of it?" Randolph asked with a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Yea, we gathered some information through your benefactor Stepanovitch's notes and through a diary belonging to her mother." Ricky replied jerking a thumb towards Helene.

"So you're Nayami's daughter." Randolph asked raising a brow, "I am deeply sorry for what happened to your parents. They were among the only people courageous enough to rebel against the company." He shook his head in sadness, "They were brave people."

"Mr. Randolph," Josh stepped up, "You worked for Umbrella, if it's possible, could please offer us any information you have of them. We need to bring those scumbags to justice or the entire world's safety will be at stake."

Randolph looked up at the youth with a look of surprise, but then revealed his agreements for the boy's inquiry, "Alright. I'll tell you everything I know about Umbrella. In return, I want you to promise me they'll be brought down on their knees. That fool Spencer put me through enough suffering enough as it is."

"Spencer?" Ricky inquired raising a brow, "Who is this guy you speak of?"

Randolph looked up, showing an angered expression, "Ozwell Spencer is the founder and the one who started all this. He is the mastermind behind the founding of Umbrella and the T-virus…"

-

A/N: Hope you're not too pissed how my updates have gotten more rare than before. Well the thing is that school's been bloody murder with the Swedish and that mind boggling math they force us first year students to read.

Anyway, I once again plan to keep you all in suspense before chapter 29. It appears this story will come to have at least 35 chapters of the main storyline, so some additions to the plot have been planned. I also made writing more effective by writing down the plots on a separate file to make remembering ideas easier. Next ya'll will see some detailed info on Umbrella I've dug up from various websites just for the backbone of this story.

Also the next chapter will be posted after I finish the next chapter of my WoW fic, which is becoming quite fun to write since it's my first fantasy fanfic. I hope some of you RE: Genome fans will also find Journey to the Light interesting at least a little. I had to learn classic English to write it for Tyrant's sake!


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